A “MOMENTARY lack of judgment” cost a motorcyclist his life.

Postal worker Paul Dicker, 46, was riding home from work with Royal Mail at Whitchurch when he overtook a lorry and rode straight into the path of an oncoming Ford Fiesta.

A Wrexham inquest heard he was thrown 20 metres over the car and died of multiple injuries resulting in massive blood loss.

Mr Dicker’s partner, Elaine Tolliday, was out feeding her ponies at their home in Dukes View, Hanmer on May 8 last year, when she heard ambulances heading to the scene of an accident.

Acting North East Wales coroner, John Gittins, said Mr Dicker was about two or three miles from home when he crashed on the A525 at Eglwys Cross.

Worried when Mr Dicker was late home, a relative of Ms Tolliday went to the scene of the accident and was told Ms Tolliday should get to Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

Tom Welch and his wife Maureen, from Bronington, were on their way home from Wrexham.

Mr Welch said: “The motorcyclist came from behind the second lorry, he just appeared, I had no chance to swerve. It was like a bomb going off.

“We were spinning around in the road and ended up facing back toward Wrexham. I was trapped, I could not get out because of the caving in of the car.”

Mr Welch was flown by air ambulance to hospital suffering from severe hand injuries.

He told the inquest it would be 12-18 months before he made a full recovery.

Elizabeth Downs of Trawsfynydd was driving behind two articulated lorries when she saw Mr Dicker overtaking.

She said in a statement: “I couldn’t understand why he was trying to overtake at the location he did, I couldn’t see the road ahead was clear.”

Mrs Zoe Hockenhull, of Willington was also in a car behind the lorries and said when she saw the overtaking she said out loud: “Oh my God!” and immediately afterwards there was crash debris falling everywhere.

Mr Gittins said police investigations showed nothing wrong with any vehicles and Mr Welch had been driving in a correct manner.

Mr Dicker was a competent and experienced motorcyclist, was not speeding and completed two perfectly safe overtaking manoeuvres prior to the accident.

“On this final occasion he found himself behind two lorries, there was a momentary lack of judgment on his part which sadly cost him his life,” said Mr Gittins, recording a verdict of accidental death.