CAR mechanic Malcolm Richards was riding his high-powered motorbike at 120mph shortly before a double collision which killed him.

The 51-year-old, of Napier Road, Cowley, had bought the 1100cc Honda Super Blackbird for £7,000 and had been out with a friend when the tragedy happened, an Oxford inquest was told yesterday.

Mr Richards had been riding between the Kidlington roundabout and Loop Farm roundabout on May 1 when he tried to overtake a car.

He collided with the side of the Vauxhall Astra and, although the bike stayed upright, he lost control and crashed through a barrier.

Mr Richards' fiance Carolyn Davis, of Atkyns Road, Wood Farm, Oxford, told the inquest that Mr Richards was a keen, competent biker.

He had been out riding with his friend Michael Hamilton-Pauley, of Church Cowley Road, Oxford. Anita Hallett, the driver of the Vauxhall Astra, broke down as she recalled the moment Mr Richards had tried to overtake her. She said: "I sensed the bike was coming round.

"The next minute, it slammed into the side of my car.

"I thought 'What on earth is he doing?'"

Pc Terence Anderson, a police accident investigation specialist, estimated that Mr Richards had been travelling at about 120mph at the time of the first impact.

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Story date: Thursday 18 November

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