'Well-liked' Wigan biker, 20, died in freak accident, inquest hears

Alex Roby had been riding his Honda CRF250 along Bryn Gates Lane in Bamfurlong, when it smashed into a metal barrier on September 12 last year, a Bolton coroner was told.

The 20-year-old would have “died instantly,” evidence suggested, and it was the result of a “freak accident” it was ruled.

Born in Billinge and living in Wigan Road, Ashton at the time of his death, Alex was a keen rider who had been passionate about bikes from a young age.

Paying tribute to her grandson, his grandma Brenda Roby described him as a “nice lad” and a “sensible rider.”

She said: “Alex was not perfect but would not cause a lot of problems. He was a nice lad and well-liked and loved.

“He worked when he had work to go to and enjoyed his hobbies. Alex lived with his dad who he loved.

“He was a motorcyclist for a long time, a number of years and he liked them and was a good rider.”

The inquest heard from pal Lewis McGowan, who had also been riding an off-road bike with Alex at the time. He told the court that he only narrowly missed hitting the barrier - which had been closed at the time - himself.

Lewis, a friend of Alex’s since primary school who described him as a "good rider" who was "competent and experienced", said: “I luckily swerved it at the very last minute.

“Alex had possibly been speeding up as he got to the gate and we were looking at each other laughing. Before we knew it he’d crashed into it and I narrowly escaped it myself.“

Paramedics were called and attempts were made to save Alex but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sgt Brian Orr of the Greater Manchester Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit told the inquest that he did not believe Alex had seen the barrier.

He told the hearing that Alex’s blood sample revealed a cannabis level of 4.5 against the legal limit of two, although this was not implicated in the cause of his death.

He added that speckles of mud had been found on goggles Alex had been wearing, which he said may have impaired his view, but the precise level wasn’t clear. Pathologist Dr Naveen Sharma, who carried out a post-mortem examination, said his cause of death was multiple injuries.

Senior coroner Timothy Brennand said he could not establish the precise reason why Alex had crashed into the barrier. But he concluded that he died as a result of an accident.

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