Witness tells of biker death crash horror

Police ask for witnesses after the crash on Mythop Road, Weeton, which resulted in the deaths of Patrick Creswell and Suzanne Smith.

Gary Harper was driving along Mythop Road, near Weeton, with friends in his car on September 12, 2012, when he saw a motorbike carrying two people overtake his car and crash into an oncoming tractor.

The farm vehicle was passing a white BMW car on the opposite side of the road at the time.

Giving evidence at Preston Crown Court, Mr Harper said he had earlier seen the motorbike, along with another bike, overtaking a number of cars behind him in his rear view mirror.

He said: “When I realised that in front of me was the tractor and the BMW I knew it was going to be a bad day.

“I knew the road was blocked for the overtaking motorbikes.

“As he overtook me, the driver of the first motorbike seemed to deliberately put the bike onto its side.

“It slid under the front of the tractor on its own, followed by the rider.

“That was the first time I noticed there was a passenger. They came to lie under the tractor with their backs facing me and they never moved again.”

Motorcyclist Patrick Cresswell, 46, and his pillion passenger, mother-of-two Suzanne Smith, 25, both of Newhouse Road, Marton, died as a result of the incident.

Daren Luis Leslie, 37, of Rectory Road, Marton, denies causing death by dangerous driving.

He had been driving the second motorbike.

Mr Harper said the second motorbike overtook his car and pulled in front of it before coming to a stop.

Sandra Wildon was a backseat passenger in Mr Harper’s car, and told the court how she covered her eyes the moment she realised she was about to witness a motorbike crashing with a tractor.

Mrs Wildon said: “I saw the bike at the side of the window as it came past us.

“ It started to wobble slightly and looked to be going towards the tractor, as if it had lost control.

“I just put my hands in front of my face, I didn’t want to look at what was going to happen.”

She said she didn’t notice the second motorbike until she was out of the car after the collision.

Mrs Wildon’s husband, Grahame, was the front seat passenger in the car, and said he also noticed the motorcycle “twitch as though the back wheel had locked”.

He added: “We were probably the last car before there was a gap to pull into.

“I would expect anyone who was overtaking in that situation on a country road to get past and in front of the next available car.

“It was an unusual overtaking manoeuvre.”

(Proceeding)

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