Clifton scooter crash man was over alcohol limit

A 24-YEAR-OLD man who died after losing control of his motor-scooter was two-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit, an inquest heard.

Builder's labourer Lee Pearce died at the QMC on May 11 after the accident in the early hours on the A453 in Clifton.

His red scooter hit the kerb as he went round a corner near the junction with Green Lane and the father-of-one was thrown from the vehicle.

He suffered fatal injuries after hitting a lamppost and his pillion passenger Lucy Beales was badly injured.

The inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court heard she later needed reconstructive surgery on her leg.

Mr Pearce, of Sutton Bonington, near Loughborough, had been drinking at a barbecue in Clifton on the evening before the crash.

The inquest heard his mother Martine asked him not to ride his scooter as he had been drinking. He agreed to push the vehicle to a friend's house where he was staying the night and his parents watched him leave.

But the inquest heard Mr Pearce then picked up Ms Beales.

Jessica Hart was a passenger in her father's car, which was driving behind Mr Pearce's scooter along the A453.

She told the hearing: "I saw the brake light come on. My dad said it didn't look very safe and that he was going to drop back.

"It looked like the bike went into a slight corner and the brake light came on. It hit the kerb and just left the road."

PC Robert Lloyd from Notts Police's collision investigation unit said it was impossible to know how fast the scooter was going. He added there was no problems with the road or scooter.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Notts Deputy Coroner Catherine Mason said there was no evidence Mr Pearce's driving was "untoward" before he hit the kerb.

But she added: "I do have to take into account that the presence of alcohol in his blood."

robert.parsons@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk