OFF-ROAD BIKER DIED IN WOODS CRASH
22-YEAR-OLD KILLED AFTER COLLIDING WITH ANOTHER BIKE IN CITY WOODLAND
A MOTORCYCLIST who wasn’t wearing a helmet died after colliding with another motorbike in a Cardiff woodland.
Mark Anderson, 22, died on May 27 after the incident near Trelai Park, near Ely, involving two motorbikes which were being driven illegally on a public footpath.
Despite the best efforts of friends and family and emergency services, Mr Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene. He had sustained a blunt impact to his head which caused blood to enter his airways.
An inquest hearing at Pontypridd Coroners’ Court yesterday heard Mr Anderson had gone to Trelai Park with friends to congregate at a bunker area.
Speaking at the hearing, Mr Anderson’s friend Joshua Lane said he had known him from Glyn Derw High School and they were good friends.
Mr Lane said: “It wasn’t a planned meeting, I ended up going down there to see friends. Me, Mark and Jacob [Ayres] were having a general conversation and Mark drove off on the bike. He went up the path and took a left, we were oblivious about what was going to happen.
“Me and Jacob carried on talking and we heard a bang. We were all thinking, ‘What’s happened?’ so we came down to the path and saw Mark lying on the floor.”
Mr Ayres, who also gave evidence at the hearing, said: “We could see from a distance Mark had been knocked out unconscious and we tried to help him.”
An ambulance was called and Mr Anderson’s friends called his uncle, who took over CPR when he arrived. Paramedics found Mr Anderson lying on the floor with a large amount of blood-loss from his head.
They continued to treat Mr Anderson until the air ambulance arrived but after several minutes of providing life support, he was pronounced dead.
Callum Francis, the rider of the other motorcycle, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving but charges were not brought.
Giving evidence at the hearing, Mr Francis described Mr Anderson as a man who “loved his bikes” and said he was a good rider.
Describing the collision, he said: “I went out on my own for a drive and as I was coming back to the bunker area I saw Mark coming towards me and we collided, both coming off our bikes.
“We both tried to avoid each other but I have gone left and instead of going the other way, we hit each other and went over the handlebars.
“I didn’t even know he was riding, as far as I knew I was the only other rider on the park. I was wearing my helmet but Mark wasn’t wearing anything.”
In a statement read out to the inquest, Mr Anderson’s mother Sonia said she last saw her son on the morning of his death and he had told her he was going to meet some friends.
Mrs Anderson said: “Mark does not own an off-road bike and as far as I know he’s not had one before. I didn’t think Mark would go on and do that because he never had a bike test or anything.”
In her conclusion, assistant coroner Sarah Richards recorded Mr Anderson’s death as an accident.
She told the court she would be writing a Regulation 28 prevention of further deaths report to recommend that a designated motorcycle area should be introduced to dissuade people from riding motorbikes in the wooded area near Trelai Park.
In a tribute released after his death, Mr Anderson’s family said: “Mark went to Glyn Derw High School in Ely and enjoyed his hobbies of fishing, rugby, football and motorcycling as well as playing on his Xbox.
“He was very well-known in the area with an amazing group of friends who are always there for each other. He was the best person you could ever meet and the neighbourhood has been devastated by his death.
“Mark had a loving relationship with his family and always got on well with everyone.
“As a family we are heartbroken and now need time to come to terms with our loss.”