Death of 4 Teenage Boys in ‘Nightmare’ Camping Trip Accident Was ‘Avoidable,' Officials Say

Mar. 15, 2025

The drowning deaths of four teenage boys who crashed their car while going camping in November 2023 has been described as “avoidable," according to multiple news outlets including theBBCand U.K. newspaperThe Times, citing a new court hearing.

PEOPLEpreviously reportedthat Jevon Hirst, 16, Harvey Owen, 17, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and 18-year-old Hugo Morris died after the car they were driving in flipped off the road in the remote Snowdonia region of the U.K. while they were traveling for a camping trip.

According to the BBC andThe Times, a police investigator and the senior coroner for North West Wales said at a hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 16, that the teens died as a result of drowning after Morris —who had passed his driving test just six months before the trip — is believed to have lost control of his car while driving too fast in a poorly marked bend in the road.

A forensic collision investigator for the North Wales police, Ian Thompson, said that Morris’ driving was a “significant” factor in the accident and that the crash was “avoidable," according toWales Online.

From Left: Harvey Owen, Jevon Hirst, Hugo Morris and Wilf Fitchett.North Wales Police (4)

North Wales Police (4)

Thompson added that while both rear tires of the car had half the required pressure for carrying four people, the vehicle had “no catastrophic mechanical failures," perThe Times.

“The vehicle has come into the bend a little bit too quickly and has understeered,” Thompson said, according toThe Times. “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.”

Scene in Gwynedd, North Wales.PA Video/PA Images via Getty Images

PA Video/PA Images via Getty Images

Senior coroner Kate Robertson said that road signs were not sufficient enough to warn the drivers of the upcoming bend, per Wales Online.

Superintendent Owain Llewelyn speaking to media on November 21, 2023.Press Association via AP Images

Press Association via AP Images

She also said that she would be writing to the U.K. government to express her concerns about newly qualified drivers being allowed to carry passengers, the outlet added.

PEOPLE has contacted the senior coroner for North West Wales for further comment.

Written tributes at Shrewsbury Abbey for Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett and Hugo Morris.Jacob King/PA Images via Getty

Jacob King/PA Images via Getty

“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,” said Fitchett’s mother, Heather Sanderson. “We gave Wilf permission to go because we believed that the driver had passed his driving test — which he had.”

She added, “We had done our research and we would make the same decision again. We were blessed to have him in our lives for 17 years. We are proud to be his family.”

Morris’ parents, Dominic and Sarah, said that he had a “thirst for life.”

“No words can express our loss,” they said. “He was happy and looking forward to the weekend. The world is shattered, bent and crooked now. We know what he went on to do would have been wonderful.”

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Hirst’s mother, Melanie, also said, “Jevon liked to socialize with his friends. He was a very loving son. He loved the outdoors and going walking. He was very close to his grandfather and loved to visit him in Harlech.”

Owen’s mother, Crystal, added that her son was “perfect from the minute he came into the world and continued to be until he was tragically taken from us.”

“Every parent’s worst nightmare came true,” she said, adding that their family had “a lifetime of grieving the life he should be living.”

source: people.com