Biker who died in Shropshire collision was doing 130mph
A motorcyclist who died when his machine collided with a van on a Shropshire road was travelling at between 111mph and 130mph, coroner John Ellery ruled yesterday.
Mr Ellery recorded a verdict of accidental death on Neil Mallin, 32, of Cheswardine, near Market Drayton, at an inquest in Wem.
Mr Mallin died on May 8, 2012, when his blue Suzuki GSXR motorbike collided with a Mercedes van on the A41 outside Newcott Fish and Chip Bar in Tern Hill.
After hearing police evidence and eye-witness accounts, Mr Ellery said he recorded as fact that Mr Mallin was riding at between 111 and 130mph.
He also recorded that the driver of the van, Mark Mills, from Telford, was, according to witnesses on his mobile phone at the time of the collision, an accusation Mr Mills denied.
Mr Mills was travelling along the A41 from Market Drayton and was turning right on to the fish shop car park at 7.45pm when the motorbike crashed into him.
Mr Mills admitted being on his phone in the moments leading up to the crash but said he had ended the call before the collision.
However, witnesses James and Rosemary Willcox , from Childs Ercall, told the inquiry he was on the phone as he made the right-turn.
Constable Ian Edwards, collision investigator for West Mercia Police, said the bike had been travelling 'significantly faster' than the national speed limit.
He said: "We know the motorcycle had overtaken three cars moments before the collision."
