Police warned against identifying casualties visually after agonising mix-up left wrong family grieving after fatal 86mph smash

New checks to stop police bungling casualty identification are being introduced following an ‘unimaginable’ mix-up which left the wrong family mourning their son after a fatal road smash.The parents of Joshua Johnson, 18, spent three weeks at the bedside of the boy who they believed was their unconscious son following the accident in December 2025.Meanwhile 17-year-old Trevor Wynn’s devastated family spent Christmas preparing for his funeral after being told he had died along with driver Summer Scott, also 17.It was only when the survivor started to regain consciousness and asked medical staff why they were calling him 'Josh' that it became clear a catastrophic blunder by police had seen the friends’ identities mixed up.Following the outpouring of horror and disbelief at the litany of police blunders which saw the fates of two families swapped for 22 days, new guidelines aim to prevent such ‘confusion’ in future.Officers should ‘avoid relying on any single indicator of identity’ to ensure they give families 'robust' and 'accurate' information after a tragic death, under new guidance from the College of Policing.A second more senior police officer must now sign off identification before relatives can be definitively told their loved-one has died, unless it is based on fingerprints, DNA or dental records.The new rules warn that casualties ‘may share similar physical features, increasing the risk of misidentification’ – the two friends, whose families did not know one another, looked strikingly similar. Joshua was a 'gentle giant' with a 'massive heart', his family told the inquest Trevor Wynn was discharged from hospital and has been making 'an amazing recovery'‘Visual identification should be treated as unreliable and will generally require corroboration,’ it states.Additionally police must liaise with medical staff to ensure the identity of surviving casualties can be confirmed ‘once stabilised’.Unveiling the guidelines two weeks ago, the College of Policing said: ‘Losing a loved one is one of the hardest things a family will ever face. How they are treated at that moment matters deeply.’Joshua and Trevor were passengers in a Toyota Corolla travelling along a country lane near Todwick, South Yorkshire in the early hours of December 13, 2025 when it left the road and hit a tree at 86mph.Summer, who was driving, and one of the boys died in the smash, with his friend rushed to hospital and kept in an induced coma.Police found items of Joshua and Trevor’s personal property scattered around the scene.These included a phone in a case which also contained Joshua's driving licence, and a second phone plus a bank card both in the name of Trevor.Police used the information to contact Trevor's mother Charlotte, who provided a college ID card, a description of his build and footwear. The vehicle was being driven by Summer Scott, 17, from Worksop, who also died in the tragedy Tributes left at the scene of the deadly crash near Todwick, Rotherham, on December 13, 2025An officer booked the body into Rotherham mortuary where after comparison with the ID he was 'satisfied' it was Trevor.Meanwhile the surviving teenager – now known to have been Trevor – underwent CT scans, with medical staff 'satisfied' based on the photograph from his driving licence that he was Joshua.It was not until January 4 that the awful mistake was discovered when he regained consciousness and asked medical staff: 'Why are you calling me Josh?'The case was taken over by a senior officer with disaster victim identification training, Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Knowles.For the first time, forensic identification was now carried out.He ordered checks of dental records which confirmed that it was Joshua who had died and not Trevor.The new guidelines are aimed at fatal incidents such as road crashes and sudden deaths, and are separate to those used for mass casualty incidents.Previously police were advised to use 'investigatory initiative' in such routine cases, often using visual checks so families don't face an agonising wait for confirmation of a loved-one's death.Documents found at the scene of crashes should only be regarded as giving ‘provisional’ confirmation of identity as the ‘energy’ of a high-speed impact can see them separated from their owners, the new guidance states.Police should use at least two forms of identification – for example a visual match plus unique marks such as tattoos and scars, or clothing – unless it is confirmed forensically.It means families may be told it is ‘believed’ that a relative has been involved in an accident but that they cannot say for certain until they have seen the body.On Monday a coroner concluded that Joshua – described by his family as a ‘gentle giant’ with a ‘massive heart’ – had been unlawfully killed.Meanwhile Trevor was later discharged home where he is said to be making a remarkable recovery.The Independent Office for Police Conduct is still investigating the horrendous mix-up after previously saying it was ‘clear something has gone very wrong’, leading to ‘awful consequences’ for the two families.After the inquest, South Yorkshire Police said it had 'reviewed' identification procedures after the 'unimaginable' mix-up was revealed, and has now adopted the College of Policing guidance.