Plea to find 1986 crash teen relatives

The parents of a young man killed in a catastrophic car crash in Loughborough in 1986 are trying to trace relatives of three other teenagers who died with him and another who was seriously injured.

Robbin and Patsy Suffield, who now live in Warwickshire, have campaigned for better protection for young drivers ever since their 18-year-old son Neil died.

“For decades we’ve just been up against a brick wall,” Mr Suffield said, as he described feeling like a “lone voice”.

The couple are keen to contact the other families bereaved in the Loughborough crash, to make them aware of the support available from the growing Forget-Me-Not Families Uniting group.

The families have backed a new law in Parliament proposing graduated driving licences.

If introduced in the UK, newly-qualified drivers would face certain restrictions for the first six months after passing a driving test, including limits on carrying passengers.

Mr Suffield said the car his son Neil and his friends were travelling in hit a bus.

“They decided with their youthful excitement to all pile into a small car,” he said. “Six of them in a car that was built for four, with a driver who’d only just passed his test.

“Of course if we’d had graduated driving licensing, six wouldn’t have got into the same car.”

Five of the boys died and one was seriously injured.

Mrs Suffield said they never felt they should blame the young driver because “it could have been any one of the other boys in that car driving”.

They believe the law would “protect” rather than “control or restrict” young drivers, as well as keep other road users safe.

The Suffields have found comfort in meeting other bereaved families and their network is growing.

They now want to reconnect with the Loughborough crash families they have lost touch with over the years.

Mr Suffield said “We’ve successfully contacted one other family, but that leaves four others and we feel that they ought to be aware of our group.”

The names of the crash victims whose families they are trying to trace are Mark Adam Smoothy from East Leake, Alan Edward Clarke and Ian David Castledine, both from Loughborough, and Wayne Hughes from Coalville, who was seriously injured.