Crash men on way to pick up friend

12 April 2012

Four young men killed in a head-on collision were on their way to pick up a friend when they died, it has emerged.

Jack Allen, 18, made himself something to eat and went to bed when his pals failed to turn up or return his text messages on Friday night.

He woke the next day to be told all four had died in a collision that also claimed the lives of a couple in their 60s.

They had been travelling on the A614 through Nottinghamshire when their Peugeot 206 and the couple's Ford Fiesta collided. Both cars burst into flames on impact.

All six were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash but such was the devastation police said it could take until Tuesday before they are formally identified.

The four young men were named locally, however, as Thomas Hudson, 16, Jay Thompson, 18, and Ross Johnson and Josh Drinkwater, who are both thought to be in their late teens or early 20s.

They were from the Mansfield area and said to have attended Joseph Whitaker School, in Rainworth, Notts.

Among the many tributes placed at the scene, near Bilsthorpe, were the words "RIP Ross, Jay, Hudson, Drinky" written on a Manchester United football shirt.

Laying a tribute, Jayne Allen said: "They were going to meet my son and he was waiting for them and they didn't arrive. He texted them but didn't get anything. He thought it was odd but made something to eat and then went to bed.

"They were all just such smashing, lovely boys, but the one I knew best was (Thomas) Hudson. He was just so kind and gentle."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in