Two young men from Yorkshire died when their car crashed into river, inquest hears

Tommy Hydes, aged 24, and his 20-year-old nephew Josh Hydes, also known as Josh Bull, both died after the Mercedes GLS in which they were travelling ploughed through railings on the Meadowhall Way bridge, in Sheffield, and into the water on January 30 last year.

Sheffield Coroner’s Court heard on February 8 how investigations showed the car had been travelling at around 70mph on the approach to the bend that evening, leading to understeer which caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle.

Emergency services were called at around 7.10pm and police officers, who were first at the scene, bravely swam out and tried to rescue the occupants only for their efforts to be hampered by the fast-flowing water and ‘zero visibility’.

Tommy, who worked as a mechanic, and Josh, who was an accountant, were eventually pulled to the surface by firefighters and taken to the Northern General Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

The court heard how Josh was believed to have been driving the hire car that night and, according to a post-mortem report, both men had died almost immediately upon entering the water.

Forensic collision investigator Fiona Wilson told the court that calculations showed the car had been travelling at approximately 70mph at a point roughly 400 metres before it came off the road and crashed through the railings into the river.

She said the speed limit on that stretch was 30mph, and the ‘maximum theoretical speed’ for that corner was calculated to be 41mph.

She added that a mechanical examination had found no defects which would have caused or contributed to the crash, it had been a dry and clear evening with good visibility, and the road surface was in a good state of repair that day.

Asked what she believed had caused the crash, she replied: “The speed of the vehicle on the approach to the bend was too high. It exceeded the maximum theoretical speed for that bend, which caused the vehicle to understeer, resulting in it colliding with the barrier.”

PC Richard Thorley, of South Yorkshire Police's Serious Collisions Unit, told the court how four police officers had swum out to the vehicle to try to free the occupants but their efforts were hampered by the fast-flowing river and poor visibility.

Firefighters were eventually able to recover the two men, he added, but the ‘zero visibility’ meant they had to locate them by touch alone.

PC Thorley said it could not be said for certain who was driving at the time of the collision but on the balance of probability he believed it was Josh.

He described how CCTV from Josh’s house in Kiveton showed he had been driving when they left that evening, he had legal responsibility for the hire car they were travelling in, and Josh was in the front seat when he was pulled from the vehicle, whereas Tommy was found in the back of the car.

Assistant coroner Abigail Combes concluded that both men had died as a result of an accident. She gave their cause of death as drowning but said that in Tommy’s case cannabis intoxication may have contributed to his death by reducing his ability to escape from the vehicle.

She said: “I want to offer my really sincere condolences to the family for losing two members of your family in the way you have.”

Following the inquest, Tommy’s heartbroken partner April Rose Ireland, who had given birth to their daughter Sienna Rose Hydes just a few months before the crash, paid tribute.

“He was the best man I’ve ever met in my life. He was caring, he would do anything for anyone, he was really, truly someone special,” she said.

“Sienna’s now 16 months old and she’s amazing. Her daddy is definitely watching over her.

“It still hurts like the very first time I got told he didn’t make it. I’ll never get over it or move on for a very long time. When he died a part of me died too.”

April had previously told how they had been talking about getting married and planned to have more children together, and she said ‘I will never stop telling our daughter how proud of her you were’.

Floral tributes festooned the railings following the tragedy.

Grieving friends and relatives turned out to pay their respects to Tommy in a ceremony at City Road Crematorium.

Mourners also lined the route to Babworth Crematorium, Retford, where Josh’s funeral was held.

Josh’s mother Emma Hydes, who is Tommy’s sister, organised a balloon release and fireworks last month to mark the anniversary of the tragedy.

She wrote at the time how Josh and Tommy were ‘always in our thoughts and sadly missed’, adding ‘love you always’.

Following the inquest, she said: “I would like to say say that both boys, my son Josh and brother Tommy, will sadly be missed by all my family members.

"They will never be forgotten, and will be thought about every day for the rest of our lives. They have taken a big hole out of all our lives. They had so much going for them, my forever young boys.”

Josh, who lived in Kiveton but grew up in Aston, worked in the finance department at the University of Sheffield’s Faculty of Engineering and had just passed some accountancy exams the week before the crash.

His manager Michelle Dickens said following his death: “Josh was a very popular, courteous and conscientious member of our team who always gave his best.

“He was always willing to help others and keen to develop as clearly demonstrated by his excellent progress through his professional accountancy examinations.

“We were truly lucky indeed to have worked together with Josh. We are all completely devastated by this tragic news.”