Two friends hiking on mountain found dead after 'abandoned' 999 call, inquest hears
Two friends sadly passed away after being reported missing after failing to return from a shared hiking trip, and now an inquest into their deaths has provided some context.
According to a police expert testifying at the inquest of Eddie Hall, 20, and Jayden Long, 19, an abandoned 999 call hadn't been escalated 'as it should have been'.
The friends, who were from Dereham, Norfolk, UK, died on Crib y Ddysgl, a ridge that reaches 1,065m, and links to Crib Goch.
Family of the men revealed, per police, that they had been walking in the Lake District and Peak District, but had not been to Eryri - Snowdonia.
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Philip Benbow, lead coordinator of Llanberis Mountain Rescue team, told Gwynedd Coroner's Court in Caernarfon, Wales, he had been alerted by North Wales Police on 18 February, where he was told about an abandoned 999 call made three hours earlier.
The call was thought to be from a person on Crib y Ddysgl, and the call was later identified to have been made by Long's mobile phone.
After speaking with the families, the mountain rescue teams and coastguard helicopter were dispatched, and checked the last known location of the men.
However, when they couldn't be found, the search was called off for the night and planned to resume at first light.
When the search picked back up alongside aided dogs, both men's remains were found one mile of Yr Wyddfa's summit in Eryri, also known as Snowdonia.
At 10:46, two members of the team believed they saw snow tracks and were led to the bodies.
According to Benbow, the pair lacked the necessary gear needed to climb the summit.
He explained that although they wore spiked footwear, they didn't take ice axes or crampons to scale the mountain range.
Calling Crib Goch an 'extreme scramble', reports say the weather conditions at the time were freezing, with snow on the ground.
According to the assistant coroner for North West Wales, Sarah Riley, both men died after falling down the mountainous terrain, causing multiple traumatic injuries.
However, she said she wasn't sure if both fell as one or one fell trying to help the other.
She claimed she would be sending her conclusion to North Wales Police so they could address her worries over not escalating the 999 call, which gives them 56 days to respond.
Benbow went on to say the information given was not enough to deploy rescue efforts right away, with detective constable James Lloyd from North Wales Police's professional standards department admitting 'the incident wasn't escalated as it should have been'.
Long's father, Stephen, allegedly called it 'incompetence,' per the BBC.
Jurgen Dissmann, chairman of Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team, said, per the Eastern Daily Press: "I would like to extend our most heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the two men who have tragically lost their lives.
"The team were tasked by North Wales Police and launched an extensive multi-agency operation in full winter conditions."
UNILAD reached out to North Wales Police for comment.
Britt Jones