A MAN killed himself by riding his motorbike into an oncoming fire engine after the mother of his under-age girlfriend threatened to tell police about the relationship.

An inquest in Scarborough yesterday heard that Andrew Joseph Stockdale, 21, was riding his motorcycle along the A170 between Wilton and Thornton-le-Dale at 2.20pm on September 6 last year when he collided with a fire engine travelling in the opposite direction. He died at the scene from multiple injuries, principally a massive head injury.

Firefighter Alan Legg told the inquest he was driving the engine at the time of the crash. He said the crew from Scarborough had been in the Kirkbymoorside area that morning on standby, as local crews were busy dealing with flooding.

Mr Legg, a firefighter for 23 years, said: “As we were driving back to Scarborough I saw a motorbike on the other side of the carriageway. For some reason he began to veer over into the middle of the carriageway, and came over onto my side.”

The inquest heard Mr Legg couldn’t work out what the motorcyclist was doing, because there was nothing in his path that he could have been overtaking.

He said: “I started to slow down, and tried to get into the two thirds of the carriageway that were left, but he still kept coming.”

Mr Legg described how the motorcyclist, who had been leaning the bike to turn it towards the fire engine, then straightened up. He said the front of the bike seemed to rise up, although the wheels were still on the ground. He said: “The motorcycle just disappeared right in front of me.”

He said the brakes on the fire engine locked and it skidded to the right, across the other side of the carriageway, over the grass verge, and into a hedge.

When he got out, Mr Legg found Mr Stockdale’s body in the field beyond the hedge, about 13 metres from where the collision had taken place.

Two further witnesses confirmed separate parts of Mr Legg’s description of events.

Daniel Wardill, a close friend of Mr Stockdale, told the hearing that the night before the accident that Mr Stockdale, a bank customer services officer who lived in Carlton Street, Bridlington, had been upset about his girlfriend.

He said: “It had been a sexual relationship and he said he was worried that her mother was going to go to the police as she was underage. He came over for a talk, and got a bit upset and emotional.”

Mr Wardill said his friend had commented briefly that it “might be easier if he wasn’t here”.

Traffic Constable Kirkbright, a collision investigator with North Yorkshire Police, said Mr Stockdale’s motorbike was a 1,000cc Honda Hornet CBR, which he should not have been riding. He had previously qualified to ride a bike of this engine size, but after getting points on his licence for speeding, he had been restricted to riding less powerful machines.

TC Kirkbright said that the marks on the road and Mr Legg’s description of the front of the motorbike rising up both suggested deliberate acceleration into the fire engine, and that neither the motorbike nor the fire engine had been found to have any mechanical faults which could have caused an accident.

Coroner Michael Oakley said: “It appears clear from the evidence that Mr Stockdale accelerated into the fire tender. It was not a question of his losing control, and it was not a question of him taking evasive action to avoid something in his lane.

“All other possible causes have been eliminated, I am satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt, and I shall therefore record a verdict that he killed himself.”

Mr Stockdale’s family, including his mother, were present to hear the verdict.