Advertisement

Meth link to fatal 190km/h crash

Meth link to fatal 190km/h crash

A man who died when he crashed his motorcycle during an attempted police intercept in Huntingdale was going at least 190km/h before he came off his bike, an inquest has been told.

Sean Bruce, 18, died in May 2012 when he crashed his motorbike while he was high on methylamphetamine and cannabis.

Two police officers, first class constables Wesley Elston and Andrew Wood, tried to stop Mr Bruce before the crash after noticing the motorcycle had no visible rear number plate or plate lights.

Coroner Sarah Linton is investigating Mr Bruce's death to determine whether the actions of the police officers contributed to his death.

The officers turned on their emergency lights and followed Mr Bruce after they spotted him near the Warton Road and Garden Street intersection.

They briefly lost sight of Mr Bruce before coming across the crash scene at a roundabout.

Witness Kevin Aquilina was driving along Warton Road when Mr Bruce flew past him with his engine rattling.

He said the rider was thrashing the bike as hard as he could and was going 190km/h "at a minimum".

"He came out of nowhere and went straight past me." Mr Aquilina said.

Mr Bruce was taken to hospital with serious and traumatic injuries but he died after emergency surgery.

A police investigation found the motorbike was stolen, Mr Bruce was not licensed to ride the vehicle and the officers did not contribute to the crash.

Outside court, Mr Bruce's sister Erin said meth had completely changed her sibling and had broken her family.

She said she blamed drugs for what had happened on the night of the crash, not the police who were involved.

Ms Linton told the court it seemed the police were "some distance" behind Mr Bruce when he came off his bike.

She said there was nothing to suggest they were close to the rider, whose decision making abilities may have been affected by the drugs he had taken.

Ms Linton will hand down her findings later this year.