Inquest told police failed to gather evidence at fatal crash site
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Courteney Moloney and Scott Johnson were killed in the crash.
A Coronial inquest into a double fatality has been told police could not lay criminal charges against a 16-year-old learner driver because they failed to collect sufficient evidence at the crash site.
Senior constable Mark Keeble has given evidence at a coronial inquest into the deaths of 16-year-old Courteney Moloney and 17-year-old Scott Johnson.
They died when the car they were travelling in hit a tree in the Wheatbelt town of Quairading in December 2006.
Scott Johnson's mother, Anne-maree Johnson, arrived at the scene to find her son dead in the front passenger seat.
"What was going through my mind? I just don't know, I can't tell you," she said.
"It was just horrific, it's something you never want to do."
The inquest hear police failed to do thorough forensic tests immediately because they believed they could not get sufficient evidence from a gravel road.
They returned eight months later, but the evidence could not be used to press criminal charges against the 16-year-old learner driver.
He pleaded guilty to breaching his licence provisions, completed a juvenile justice program and wrote apologies to the victim's families.
Senior Constable Keeble, who was the investigating officer, acknowledged to the coroner that the families were extremely concerned that no criminal charges were laid.
