Mikhail’s parents’ vow to continue to fight for truth
Parents of a talented teenager who had aspirations to become a psychologist said they plan to ‘continue looking for the truth’ after being unhappy with an inquest into the death of their son.
University of Portsmouth student Mikhail Degtiarev, 18, of Station Street, died at the scene of a crash southbound in Eastern Road on August 18. He hit a kerb before coming off a Honda CBF600cc motorcycle at around 90mph in the 50mph road and crashed into fencing.
Portsmouth Coroner’s Court heard he was riding with four other motorcycle friends on his father’s 600cc Honda bike having usually ridden his less powerful 125cc vehicle. Russian national Mikhail, who was in the UK studying, was someone who had an interest in motorbikes and would regularly ride scooters as a child before completing motorbike training in his native land. He was described by his parents as someone who ‘mastered driving a motorcycle and a car’ by the time he was 18.
Speaking to The News after the hearing, the parents said they had unanswered questions as they consider their next step: ‘We are not happy with the decision of the coroner and believe things need to be further investigated.’
The inquest heard how Mikhail - described as a ‘careful and considerate’ rider - accelerated off with the group when traffic lights turned from red to green halfway along Eastern Road near the Harvester junction just after 8pm.
Witness Andrew Clinton said a group of motorcycles pulled up alongside him in his car while the lights were red. ‘I then saw what looked like the start of a motorcycle race as all the motorbikes took off at serious speed. Within a split second all were in front of me. They were riding too close together and were racing in a pack like you see on races,’ he said in a statement.
He said he then heard the sound of a motorcycle ‘revving extremely high and saw dust and bits of a motorbike... spinning through the air’. He added: ‘I was in complete shock and felt sick.’
A post mortem revealed the cause of death was due to traumatic head and chest injuries including a skull fracture as well as Mikhail’s spinal cord being cut in half. He had no alcohol or drugs in his system and had been wearing a helmet.
Drew Gatwood, who had been riding with Mikhail, said the group were heading to Southsea when they sped off as the lights turned green. The witness told the hearing he was travelling at around 85mph and Mikhail was going faster at around 90mph when he got into difficulties on a ‘slight bend’ in the road before ‘panic braking’.
‘I saw him sit upright and pull on the front brake. He continued to go straight rather than follow the bend,’ he said. ‘He made contact with the kerb on the side of the road and came off his bike. It happened very quickly.’
He added: ‘The motorcycle seemed to explode into a cloud of debris and smoke.’
Mr Gatwood told the hearing he did not see any collision between Mikhail or anything that caused him to swerve. He described Mikhail as a ‘competent, safe and considerate’ motorcyclist.
Matthew Warner, a police forensic vehicle investigator, said the front tyre of the Honda bike was below the legal limit while the rear tyre was ‘squared-off ’ and ‘not evenly worn’. Michael Toy, a forensic collision investigator, added: ‘That type of wear can have an effect on the handling characteristics of motorcycles.’
He continued: ‘The square rear tyre would have made Mikhail think he was losing control as he entered the right hand bend. He brought the machine upright and front braking both would alter the direction of travel causing the Honda to straighten and head towards the nearside kerb.’
He said the conditions were ‘fine and dry’ in the evening but said Mikhail’s provisional UK licence to ride a motorbike only allowed him to ride bikes up to 125cc and not the 600cc he had been riding. ‘He was an inexperienced rider unlikely to be familiar with riding 600cc motorcycles,’ he said, adding there were no marks on his friends’ motorbikes to suggest they contributed to the collision. When a police motorcyclist tested riding at 89mph along the stretch where the crash happened he concluded he could ‘navigate the bend without issue’.
Coroner Jason Pegg concluded the ‘tragic’ death was a result of a road traffic collision. ‘(Mikhail) was riding the motorcycle at speed with a squared-off tyre around a right-hand bend which caused him to lose control and collide with a nearside kerb and fencing, causing severe head and chest injuries.
‘Mikhail had limited motorcycle experience and was riding an unfamiliar motorcycle which he was not qualified to ride on the highway which contributed to his death.’
Speaking after the inquest, Mikhail’s parents, who spoke through an interpreter at the hearing, said they were ‘not satisfied’ with the verdict, had wanted to ask the coroner questions before the summing up and would continue to fight for answers. Mikhail’s dad Vitalii told The News: ‘One of the motorcyclists was not called to give evidence because they could not find him and the stories of the witnesses do not match. We plan to continue to look for the truth of what happened to our son. We have a lot of questions following the inquest.
‘It did not answer the main question of why the crash happened. We don’t believe from the evidence that this was enough to make him die how he did. We think there could have been some interruption on the road. The police officer that tested the road said he had no issues.’
He added: ‘Mikhail was a very careful and considerate driver who could handle various vehicles and had driven the motorbike before. I also drove that bike for five months and all the documents were correct and the bike met legal requirements.’
Mikhail was a violinist, a ‘wonderful’ figure skater and a skilled archer and ‘connected his life with psychology because he wanted to help people’, his parents said. He came to the UK in 2019 and attended private school Buckswood in Hastings before studying psychology at the University of Portsmouth.
Mikhail’s university friend Alena told The News: ‘Mikhail was a very responsible young man. He did not go out drinking or to parties. He was self-motivated and always wanted to improve himself and took part in lots of activities. It’s so sad to lose such a person from our world.’