Huddersfield biker seriously injured and spends 14 hours in A&E after hitting wall of stones deliberately left in road

A motorcyclist is lucky to be alive after colliding with stones deliberately placed by teenage boys on a Huddersfield^[1] road.

Richard Pendleton, a 40-year-old, dad-of-two, was riding along Cumberworth Lane at 45mph to his home in Denby Dale^[2] at 1am on Saturday, July 8, when he flew off his bike. His wife Rachel, who manages Denby Dale Pie Hall, said Richard saw three lads aged between 15-19 walking down the road, one wearing a red T-shirt, moments before he hit the stones.

She said he saw the big stones on the right-hand side of the road as this side is illuminated by street lights. But he did not see the stones on the left-hand side until it was too late and he hit them and was thrown from his bike.

Rachel said: "The ones on the left-hand side he didn't see until his headlights picked them up as there are no street lights on this side. When he saw the ones on the right-hand side he slowed down further still but it was already too late as he hit one of the stones. His bike jumped up into the air and he fell onto his righthand side.

"A driver stopped at the side of him and asked if he was ok. Richard told him he had hit the stones and come off his bike and was sure he'd broken some bones. The driver said: 'You need to ring an ambulance then mate' and then drove off.

"With the adrenaline running through him he managed to move his bike out of the road but couldn't move any of the stones. He stood in the road with his phone torch on to warn any other drivers about the stones.

"The police agreed that the stones in the road had been put there on purpose and hadn't fallen off of a lorry. We could see the exact wall they had been removed from."

Richard was taken to Barnsley District General Hospital where he spent 14 hours in A&E. He had two X-rays which showed a broken collarbone and a broken pelvis. He also had a CT scan which was clear.

He will be off work for six to 12 weeks depending on if he needs surgery on his collarbone at his next hospital appointment on July 25. His wife said Richard can't claim on his insurance as he was third-party fire and theft.

Rachel added: "He also can't put a claim in for injuries as at the moment there is no one to blame. He is now feeling very stressed as he doesn't have transport to get to work when he can go back especially since he can't claim on the insurance.

"We are also worried now because of loss of earnings especially since mortgage prices have gone up as has the cost of living. Richard works two jobs and I have two jobs plus doing private cleaning. Richard took on a second job to try and work off some of the debt we got into at the beginning of the year when I was off work from January to the end of June after a serious operation on my back.

"We thought we were just getting back on top of things and would be able to have a brilliant summer with the boys going on days out after they had missed out on so much when I was off with my back but now, we're back to square one and again the boys will miss out.

"There have been five other reports of stones in the road, unfortunately, they haven't been reported to the police, only posted on Facebook. One of the incidents took place on Shelley Woodhouse Lane which happened to our neighbour.

"The night Richard had his accident, a girl in the village hit the same stones 15 minutes before his accident. It destroyed her car's suspension. Unfortunately, this also wasn't reported to the police and she didn't move the stones when she hit them which is understandable as she was alone at 12.30-12.45am.

YorkshireLive has launched a WhatsApp community and anyone who joins will get the latest breaking news and top stories sent direct to their phone. To join click here^[4].

"Local people are helping us too. Hannah McKerchar, a humanist celebrant and Kirklees councillor Tim Bamford, (Denby Dale, Con), has been in touch with the police and Kirklees Safety while Tim has also offered to fix Richard's bike if it isn't written off.

Kindhearted friends have set up a JustGiving page to help ease the family's financial anxieties with £590 raised of a £1,000 target. Anyone who wishes to help them get back on their feet should click here^[5].

A West Yorkshire Police^[6] spokesman said: "Police received a report of a road traffic collision on Cumberworth Lane, Lower Cumberworth, in which a male motorcyclist was injured after colliding with rocks that were in the road. The report was received at 1.21am on Saturday, July 8. The matter is currently under investigation."

References

1. ^{^} Huddersfield (www.examinerlive.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Denby Dale (www.examinerlive.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Hero off-duty West Yorkshire Police officer detained two men with knives near restaurant (www.examinerlive.co.uk)
4. ^{^} here (www.examinerlive.co.uk)
5. ^{^} here (www.justgiving.com)
6. ^{^} West Yorkshire Police (www.examinerlive.co.uk)