Dad-to-be killed in motorbike smash on Rotherham dual carriageway

Martyn Sharman (23) died from multiple injuries after the accident on Centenary Way in Rotherham on January 28.

The hearing in Doncaster was told Mr Sharman acquired the bike through Facebook a few days earlier, but it had started “fish-tailing” after overtaking a van and left the road.

His partner Simone Wisdom said that they had been expecting a baby and had both been “over the moon” at the prospect.

In a statement read out in Doncaster Coroner’s Court, Ms Wisdom said she had faced a “constant battle” as she knew Mr Sharman, of Orgreave Way in Sheffield, was riding a motorbike without a licence or insurance and he “shouldn’t be doing it”.

His mum, Rebecca Thompson, confirmed in a statement that her son did not have a licence and they had “spent a lot of time arguing about it”.

Ms Wisdom said Mr Sharman had seemed in a “really good mood” when he left on the day of the accident to visit his mum.

She added that she became worried after not hearing from him. When the phone was later answered, it was a police officer who said Mr Sharman had been in an accident.

Eyewitness Lee Richardson said in a statement that he had been a passenger in a works van when a motorcycle, which he did not believe was travelling over the 50mph speed limit, had overtaken.

He described how the bike had begun to “fishtail, then clipped the kerb” and the rider had collided with the lamp-post.

Efforts by Mr Richardson and others to revive Mr Sharman proved in vain and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Forensic investigator Andrew Cross told the court examinations of the bike had found the chain separated from the sprocket which “may indicate it had not been adjusted correctly”.

The tyre pressures were not equal, but Mr Cross said it was “not clear” if this deflation was caused by the collision.

A poorly adjusted chain could “jump off the sprocket” and down by the rear wheel, he said.

“If it then locks the back wheel, it could then start making the back end of the motorcycle fishtail,” said Mr Cross.

The possible low tyre pressure would also make the vehicle “hard to control”, he said.

PC Paula Thompson told the court Mr Sharman had acquired the bike in an online swap about four or five days beforehand, and the last record of an MOT was in May 2019.

Pathologist Dr Laszlo Karsai gave the cause of death as “multiple traumatic injuries as a result of a road traffic incident”.

The Area Coroner, Mrs Louise Slater, said while Mr Sharman “did not have the appropriate documentation to ride legally on the highway”, there was no evidence to suggest the motorbike had been ridden in an inappropriate manner.

The most likely scenario, she said, was a “poorly adjusted chain” coming off, and locking the back wheel, while an under-inflated tyre had further added to his inability to control the bike.

She recorded a conclusion of road traffic collision.