My son, 17, & his 3 teen friends were killed in horror crash on way to camping trip – I’ll forever regret his final text
A DEVASTATED mum has revealed the heartbreaking text her son sent her before he died with three friends in a horror car crash.
Crystal Owen’s son Harvey, 17, died along with driver Hugo Morris, 18, who lost control of his silver Ford Fiesta on the A4085 in Garreg, North Wales, on November 19 last year.
The group of Shropshire teenagers – which also included Jevon Hirst, 16, and Wilf Fitchett, 17 – had been on a camping trip to Snowdonia when the car plunged into a drainage ditch and overturned.
The four school friends were all wearing seatbelts and survived the impact, but were trapped and tragically drowned when the car let in water.
Hugo, the driver, had only held his licence for six months and 16 days.
Harvey had not told his mother he was going camping – instead saying one of his friends’ dads would take the group to Wales, and they would be staying at Jevon’s granddad’s cottage in Harlech.
He left at around 7pm with some luggage.
Crystal revealed the last time she heard from her son was a text message he sent at around 10am the next day, showing a view from the conservatory of the cottage.
The mum, who is now campaigning for tougher teen driving laws, told the Sunday Times she will “forever regret” not calling Jevon’s father to check.
She has launched a petition on Change.org, writing: “No one believes it will happen to them, but … it can happen to anyone.”
Crystal believes it is not possible to protect teenagers without the backing of the law.
She said: “Their brains are not fully formed, which is why we have other restrictions on things like buying cigarettes.
“I am certainly not ashamed to say that I didn’t know what he was doing. He gave me a convincing story. It wasn’t a bad lie.
“He just knew I’d worry about him going camping, so he was not telling me to protect me.”
An inquest held in Caernarfon earlier this month heard Hugo, described by his family as having a “thirst for life”, had “wanted an adventure with his friends”.
Dr Anton van Dellen, representing the family of Harvey, said the coroner should consider making a report for the prevention of future deaths.
He said: “One of the features of this case is that there were three children travelling with the driver on a road in North Wales, presumably heading to a place of recreation.
“That’s a scenario which in my opinion is very likely to reoccur in the future.”
Wilf’s mother Heather Sanderson said: “We gave Wilf permission to go because we believed that the driver had passed his driving test, which he had, and we were more than happy.
“We had done our research and I think we would make the decision again, not knowing the outcome. I don’t think our decision was flawed.”
Senior coroner for north west Wales Kate Robertson said she would write to the Department for Transport and the DVLA to raise concerns that deaths could continue to occur where “young, newly-qualified drivers are permitted to carry passengers”.
Speaking outside the coroner’s court, Crystal said she was “very happy” with the outcome but the Government still needed to act.
She said: “My son was able to get in the back of a car driven by a young, inexperienced driver and be driven on an unfamiliar rural road without my knowledge.
“He was let down by an outdated driving licence system.”
Recording a conclusion of road traffic collision, the coroner said: “I find that all four young men would have died very soon following the collision, given the post-mortem findings and that they died by drowning.”
She said the signage in the area would not have given adequate warning of the upcoming bend.
The court heard extra signage and chevrons had been put in place following the collision but a broken fence, which had apparently been damaged in an earlier crash, had still not been replaced and was on land not owned by the council.
The coroner also said she would issue a report for the prevention of future deaths concerning fencing or a safety barrier in the area, and asked Gwynedd Council to provide details of the landowner.
Mrs Sanderson said she thought if the fence had been in better condition, it could have made a difference.
She said: “If all of those circumstances arose again then there’s a possibility that could happen again.
“It’s too late for Wilf and his friends. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that could happen again even with improved signage.
“I want to know who owns that fence and I think it should be protecting that hazard.”
The friends, who were reported missing on the afternoon of November 20, were found when recycling collector Sion Griffith and his colleague drove along the road at about 10am on November 21.
In a statement, Mr Griffith said he saw a vehicle upside down and “wedged” in a ditch about 10 feet away from the side of the road and, after getting out, checked a police Facebook appeal and realised the car had the same registration number as the one the missing boys were in.
Post-mortem evidence showed none of the teenagers had significant injuries but examinations of their lungs showed features of drowning.
Forensic collision investigator Ian Thompson told the court although the speed limit on the road was 60mph, the critical speed for the bend was 38mph.
He said: “The vehicle has come into the bend a little bit too quickly and has understeered.”
He said it had been raining heavily on the day of the crash and water levels in a nearby river had risen by one metre over two days, with water in the ditch at the side of the road usually rising at a similar level.
Mr Thompson said based on CCTV he estimated the collision occurred just after 11.40am on November 19.
He added: “Mr Morris negotiated the right-hand bend, entered onto the grass verge, went down a steep embankment and then into a water-filled drainage ditch.”