Shrewsbury teenagers drowned in river

A crash which killed four teenagers when they drowned in an overturned car could have been avoided, an inquest has heard.

Hugo Morris, 18, Harvey Owen, 17, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Jevon Hirst, 16, all from Shrewsbury, died when their car left a rural road while they were camping last November.

It rolled over on its roof into a flooded ditch, leaving the four A-level students trapped.

A finding of a road collision has been recorded by the North West Wales Senior Coroner.

The teenagers were visiting Eryri National Park, also known as Snowdonia, when they set out from Harlech on November 19 to spend the night camping.

But the Ford Fiesta driven by Hugo left the A4085 road near the villages of Garreg and Llanfrothen.

The wrecked car was not visible from the road and required two days of a massive search to find the boys.

The investigation revealed that a passing garbage recycling truck spotted the overturned car while making its rounds Tuesday morning.

The four students were found dead in the car.

The investigation revealed that autopsies revealed that none of them had internal or external injuries and that they died from drowning.

Giving evidence at the hearing, investigators from North Wales Police said there was “no catastrophic mechanical failure” with the car.

However, the two rear tires had only half the inflation pressure required to carry four people.

Mr Thompson said it was his opinion Hugo had taken a corner too quickly, causing the vehicle to go off the road.

He said he calculated that the maximum theoretical speed through the bend was 38 mph.

But he added: “After going around the corner myself at the fastest speed, I felt comfortable negotiating the corner at 26 mph.”

He said the Ford Fiesta entered that bend at a speed higher than the legal limit for negotiating it, although it may have been below the road’s 60 mph limit.

Mr Thompson said the actions of Hugo Morris had to be taken into account in the accident.

While it was raining heavily and the road was covered with leaves, the investigator said he did not consider weather conditions to have played a role in the collision.

But he considered that the accident “was avoidable”.

Delivering her conclusion, senior coroner Kate Robertson noted there was inadequate signage approaching the bend.

She said she would also write to Cyngor Gwynedd and the landowner near the crash site about the need to install fencing or barriers at the scene.

The coroner will also write to the UK government to raise her own concerns about the ability of newly qualified drivers to carry passengers.

“After reviewing and hearing the testimony, I have one concern,” she said.

Tributes were read to all the boys by the coroner.

Harvey’s mother, Crystal, said he was “perfect from the moment he was born and continued to be perfect until he was tragically taken from us.”

“Harvey had the biggest, warmest smile that radiated love, calm and contagious positive energy,” she said.

She said “every parent’s worst nightmare came true” last November and that Harvey’s family now faces “a life of grieving the life he should have lived, back in the days we should have spent with him and memories we should make.”

Heather Sanderson, Wilf’s mother, said she was “very proud” of her son, who was “so kind and had a good sense of humour”.

“I will miss him for the rest of my life.”

In a statement, Jevon’s mother said he was “happiest when he was home with his family.”

“He was very close to his family and he was loved,” Melanie Hirst said.

Hugo’s parents said their son had “a lust for life.”

“No words can express our loss,” Dominic and Sarah Morris said.

“Our world is broken, bent and cracked. It is impossible to forget it.”

Harvey’s mother, Mrs Owen, said the deaths of her son and his friends had led her to launch a campaign has change the law for young drivers.

She launched an online petition calling for the introduction of a graduated driving license.

New learners would need to have completed at least six months of training before being able to apply for a test.

It would also ban newly qualified drivers from carrying passengers under the age of 25 for the first six months, without an elderly person present.

Speaking outside the coroner’s court, Ms Owen said she was “very happy” with the outcome but the Government still needed to act.

She said: “My son was able to get into the back of a car driven by a young, inexperienced driver and be driven down an unfamiliar rural road without my knowledge. He was disappointed by an outdated driver’s license system. »