Police uncover twisted truth after grieving family contacted by son’s ‘killer’

A man who falsely claimed he was involved in the death of a 17-year-old hit-and-run victim has been jailed. David Brown caused “considerable and unnecessary stress” to Dylan Price’s grieving family when he contacted them via Facebook Messenger.

The 61-year-old used a fake name when he contacted Dylan’s relative in July 2022 and said he was involved in the teenager’s death. He was arrested two months later on suspicion of sending malicious communications and causing death by dangerous driving.

West Mercia Police said following an investigation officers were “satisfied” Brown was not involved in the teenager’s death in the early hours of September 19, 2021 – the day before his 18th birthday. He was hit by a vehicle on the B4385 Brampton Road in Bishop’s Castle while on his way home from celebrating with friends. No one has yet been charged in Dylan’s death, but the investigation is ongoing.

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Brown, of Oak Meadow in Bishop’s Castle, was later charged with two counts of sending malicious communications and pleaded guilty to the charges at Telford Magistrates’ Court on November 1, 2022. He later withdrew his guilty plea, which was later rejected by the court. , and was sentenced to 15 months in prison at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Thursday 11 July.

Following sentencing, Detective Inspector Jo Delahay, from West Mercia Police, said: “This has caused considerable and unnecessary stress to Dylan’s family during their time of grief and I welcome the sentence handed down to Brown by magistrates today . Claiming to be involved in someone’s death when you were not only wastes police time and could hinder the investigation, but to then contact a grieving family with these claims is unacceptable.

“I would like to reassure the public that we have carefully considered Brown’s claims and, after investigating them, we are satisfied that he was not involved.”

Anyone with information that could assist the police investigation is urged to call 101 quoting incident 140 of 19 September 2021.