Motorcyclist who died in crash was drink driving, inquest hears

A motorcyclist who crashed and died on a rural South Holland road was almost twice the drink-drive limit.

Jacob Williams (26) came off the Honda on Station Road, part of which runs alongside the River Nene between Sutton Bridge and Tydd St Mary.

The crash location was close to the junction with Front Road, which leads to Foul Anchor.

Mr Williams’ head hit a pole supporting a chevron board warning of a sharp right-hand bend ahead, an inquest in Lincoln heard on Tuesday. He died at the scene.

A toxicology test showed that he had 157 milligrams of ethanol (alcohol) per 100 millilitres of blood in his system. As a comparison, the legal drink-drive limit is 80.

Mr Williams had been drinking at a friend’s pub, The Rising Sun in Gedney Drove End, and was heading to his partner Deborah Greaves’ house at the time.

He had rung her at 6pm to say he was leaving the pub.

She said: “I told him to stay there as a safety precaution as he’d been drinking. He rang me back at 6.30pm and told me he was coming home.

“I could not tell if he was drunk or not.”

There was no evidence of another vehicle or animal being involved in the incident at about 7pm on December 2 last year.

A collision investigation report found that Mr Williams, of Long Road, Tydd Gote, did not have a licence or insurance and was riding a motorcycle reported stolen from Essex in February 2020.

The registration plate was for a 125cc bike but it was a CBR 500. The report author, PC Godfrey Barlow, said the difference in power would have been obvious to the rider.

Lindsay Tasker, assistant coroner for Lincolnshire, said: “The exact reason why Mr Williams lost
control remains unknown but the alcohol level would offer the most likely factor.”

She returned a conclusion that Mr Williams’ death was as the result of a road traffic collision.