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Coroner Warns of Mountain Deaths After Police Call Failure
27 Oct
Summary
- Two young friends died on a mountain ridge after a 999 call was disconnected.
- Police efforts to trace the caller were limited before alerting mountain rescue.
- Coroner cites risks of future deaths unless police call procedures improve.
A coroner has issued a stark warning about potential future deaths on remote mountains, stating that police response to disconnected 999 calls must improve. This warning comes after the tragic deaths of friends Eddie Hill, 20, and Jayden Long, 19, whose bodies were found on a mountain ridge in Snowdonia on February 19th. Their deaths followed a disconnected 999 call made by Jayden Long to North Wales Police on February 18th.
Officers attempted to call Mr. Long back, but their subsequent efforts to identify the phone's owner were described as limited. The police also took over three hours to alert mountain rescue teams. The mountain rescue team indicated they lacked sufficient information from the call to act immediately. The two men died in extreme winter conditions on Crib y Ddysgl, a ridge less than a mile north of Yr Wyddfa's summit.
The assistant coroner, Sarah Riley, identified significant concerns, including a lack of staff training for handling calls from remote mountainous areas and inadequate systems for sharing lessons learned. She emphasized a significant risk of future deaths unless these concerns are addressed. North Wales Police stated that their communications centre policy was amended in September 2026 to include specific guidance for silent or disconnected 999 calls from remote locations, aiming to reassure that lessons have been acted upon.
