A MAN said he has sold his motorbikes and “won’t ride again” after his father-in-law died in a crash in Denbighshire.

Matthew Taylor was riding on the A525 in Rhewl with Paul George Spinks on July 9, 2023 when Mr Spinks died after hitting a vehicle while trying to negotiate a bend.

Following a full inquest into his death, held at County Hall, Ruthin today (June 21), John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, recorded a conclusion of road traffic collision.

The medical cause of death of Mr Spinks, a 48-year-old married father-of-two of Claridge Drive, Milton Keynes, was stated as fatal head injury.

Speed was not considered a contributory factor in the crash.

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Mr Spinks was one of 10 motorcyclists riding in convoy during a weekend-long tour of North Wales with friends and family when, shortly before 12pm on July 9, his Yamaha motorbike hit an Audi Q3 vehicle.

Wayne Bartley, who was driving the Audi in the opposite direction on the single-carriageway road, said he saw Mr Spinks “close to or on the white centre lines” of the road, and feared he was “not in control of the bike”.

“I tried to brake, but it happened so quickly," he said.

Another witness said that, “if not for Wayne, he (Mr Spinks) would have hit a tree, or possibly the motorist behind,” while another stated that Mr Spinks was “not positioned correctly for the bend, and there was no way he was going to make it around”.

Mr Taylor, who was riding ahead of their main group with Mr Spinks at the front, said they had enjoyed the same tour of North Wales in 2022 and 2023.

He called police after the crash, and said Mr Spinks went “out of my sight as he went around the bend”.

“Since the incident, I’ve sold my motorbikes and won’t ride again,” he added.

David Hodges, a forensic collision investigator with North Wales Police, examined the scene.

He described the weather conditions as “favourable” and the road in “fine condition”, while both vehicles involved in the crash were found to have no potentially contributory defects when examined.

For Mr Bartley, the crash was “unavoidable”, Mr Hodges said.

Concluding, Mr Gittins said that Mr Spinks would likely not have endured any suffering following the crash, and said his death would probably have been “almost instant”.

“I suspect what this is all about is a lack of knowledge of that bend itself,” he said.

“The reality of it is that there are times when we’re driving or riding with momentary lack of judgement.

“I think in this instance, we’re not talking about anything other than a momentary loss of control of the vehicle.”

Following the conclusion of the inquest, Mr Spinks’ wife, Samantha, who had been with him since age 19, paid tribute to a “very much-loved family man”.

She said: “He loved his girls and did everything for us.”

One of Mr Spinks’ two daughters added: “Not many daughters can say they had a dad like him.”