Merseyside motorcyclist died in Swiss road accident, inquest told

Oct 26 2011 by Lorna Hughes, Heswall News

A WIRRAL motorcyclist living in Switzerland died in a road accident while on his way to pick up his girlfriend, an inquest heard.

Father-of-three Philip Simpson was on his motorcycle when a Mercedes Benz vehicle manoeuvred out of a parking space into the line of traffic.

The hearing was told the 46-year-old braked but his bike fell onto its right side and collided with the car, leaving Mr Simpson trapped.

He was taken to hospital following the accident on August 29, 2009 but died while being operated on for his injuries.

Coroner’s officer Arthur Flower told the inquest Mr Simpson, an aircraft fitter for an aviation company, had been living and working in the city of Basel for 12 months.

He said: “His partner Gina Lamont had travelled to Switzerland to spend the weekend with him.

“At around 4.30pm, after finishing work, he was making his way to the rail station to collect her.

“The female driver of the black Mercedes Benz manoeuvred out of the parking space. She failed to see the deceased.”

A post mortem carried out after Mr Simpson’s body was returned to Wirral found he died from multiple injuries.

Mr Flower said the car driver initially tested positive for cannabis and amphetamines, but urine samples taken later were negative and the first result was a “false positive”.

The inquest heard police in Switzerland have not yet decided whether she should face criminal charges.

Wirral Coroner Christopher Johnson recorded a narrative verdict that Mr Simpson died as a result of the injuries he suffered when the motorcycle he was riding was in collision with a car.