Four teens drowned in crash on way to camping trip one day after haunting Snapchat video

Four teenagers , the day after one of them shared a Snapchat video of a vehicle skidding dangerously around a car park.

Jevon Hirst, 16, Wilf Fitchett and Harvey Owen, both 17, and Hugo Morris, 18, were found in an overturned, partially submerged car in Gwynedd. A search was launched after the teenagers, all from the Shropshire area, failed to return home, a joint inquest into their deaths has heard today.

The bodies of the friends were found in a silver Ford Fiesta on November 21, 2023. The A-level students had planned an overnight camping trip to the Snowdonia area. The car had left the A4085 at Garreg, near Tremadog, overturned, and was partially submerged in water, said.

As the inquest got underway today it was revealed that Hugo was driving, Jevon was the front seat passenger, Harvey was behind Hugo and Wilf was behind Jevon, according to Ian Thompson, a North Wales Police forensic collision investigator, who was giving evidence.

He also revealed that Harvey posted a Snapchat video the day before the accident, which showed an unidentified driver conducting a risky manoeuvre in which the car ends up facing the way it has just come, filmed in an empty car park at Barmouth Lifeboat Station.

The collision investigator said he attended the scene at 1.15pm on November 21, 2023 and there were two "rolling tyre marks" on a 60 degree slope, down off the road. He seen a Snapchat video posted by Wilf earlier in the day suggesting everyone was wearing a seatbelt. Numerous cars had negotiated the right hand bend at Garreg without incident according to CCTV.

Mr Thompson told the hearing that Hugo Morris' Fiesta entered the bend at about 25mph and the collision was at 11.43am on November 19. He was not using his phone to make any call. Mr Thompson said police records dating back to 1994 show no fatal or serious collisions on that bend.

He also told the hearing that the fastest speed to negotiate the bend safely would be about 26mph, with the speed limit of the road being 60mph. The driving of Hugo Morris was "significant" in the circumstances of the accident and the accident was "avoidable", he added. Mr Thompson said Mr Morris had been a "relatively new" driver having passed his test six months and 16 days before the accident.

Heather Sanderson, Wilf's Mum, has told the coroner she would still have allowed her son to go to North Wales despite what happened. She told the coroner: "As a family we are heartbroken at losing Wilf but we are also heartbroken about how difficult it has been for the other parents - particularly for the parents of the driver (Hugo Morris).

"We gave Wilf permission to go because we believed that the driver had passed his driving test - which he had. We had done our research and we (would) make the same decision again."

After the teens deaths Harvey's mother Crystal Owen paid tribute to him and said he was "a unique and special person who touched so many people along the way". She said: "There are absolutely no words to describe the pain we are feeling at the loss of the most precious soul and no words to really explain how much of a special person Harvey was.

"Laid back, charismatic, cheeky, a boy not of his time, he always thought outside the box, he was creative and funny. A boy that preferred to be outside and active. He was the most gentle soul, always feeling empathy for people and seeing the good in everyone. Quirky, a trendsetter, loving, pure and hilarious."

Wilf's girlfriend, Maddi Corfield, posted a tribute online, writing: "I love you so much, I'm going to miss you forever. The sweetest and most loving boy I've ever known. I hope you know how much I love you, gorgeous." Shrewsbury Colleges Group, where the boys were A-level students, offered "deepest condolences to the family and friends" of the teenagers and said it had put in place a range of support measures to help those affected.