A motorcyclist died after losing control of his bike and smashing into a car, an inquest heard.

Russell Lynch, 33, of The Avenue, Wivenhoe, suffered fatal injuries after his 900cc Honda motorbike collided with a BMW.

Yesterday's hearing was told that he was going so fast along Little Bromley Road in Little Bentley, that he failed to give way to traffic as he joined the A120.

He narrowly missed the front of a lorry, which was being driven along the dual carriageway, and smashed into a BMW.

A post-mortem examination found that he died from multiple injuries suffered in the crash and had traces of cannabis in his body.

David Hawkins was driving the lorry which Mr Lynch's motorbike narrowly avoided.

He told the inquest that at first, he thought the rider was his son, who has a similar bike, and realised the motorcylist was about to collide with a car.

He said: "The next thing was I remember shouting to myself 'No'. The car ploughed straight into him. There was no avoiding it."

The BMW's driver, Jacqueline McQuillan-Bantick, also gave evidence and said that before the collision she heard the motorbike's engine but could not see it.

She said Mr Lynch's Honda appeared in front of her "as though it had been dropped out of the sky".

She added that there was nothing she could do to avoid it.

Crash investigator PC Richard Gould, of Essex Police, said: "Mr Lynch was riding his Honda motorbike at such a high speed along Little Bromley Road, he failed to give way to the major road."

He added that he could not say for sure whether or not the cannabis detected in the rider's body had impaired his riding.

Essex coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Published Thursday November 7, 2002

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