Mum’s heartbreak after son, 21, died in County Durham motorbike crash
Rhys Smailes, 21, died in a motorcycle accident near Crook [1]last year, on his way to show his mum himself riding a bike. Middlesbrough-born Rhys [2]died in the early hours of August 13 last year and an inquest on Friday ruled this had been an accident. He had developed an "obsession" with motorbikes and wanted his mum Becky Smith to see him riding.
Throughout August 12 and into the evening he had - with pal Matthew Walton - been "tinkering" with motorbikes at Mr Walton's Crook home before the pair set off for a ride as Rhys wanted to meet his mum. However during that ride, one of the bikes broke down and Rhys called stepdad Daniel Welch for help. ADVERTISEMENT
Daniel and Becky then drove to Coxhoe where Daniel "took one look" at the broken bike and knew it would not be fixable that night. They loaded the broken bike into Daniel's Volvo. Becky had remained in Coxhoe and Rhys decided he wanted to borrow his childhood friend's Zontes motorbike and ride it back there to show his mum himself riding it.
His stepdad Daniel followed in convoy in the van and reported how Rhys was riding safely and to the speed limit - which was corroborated by CCTV footage and later accident investigations . But on the A690 at Helmington Row, Crook, Daniel lost sight of Rhys as they rounded a bend. When Daniel next saw Rhys it was clear he had been thrown from the bike and needed urgent medical attention.
Rhys had suffered multiple traumatic injuries and - despite the efforts of paramedics - died at the scene. The emergency services were called at around 12.50am on August 13.[3] At the inquest at Crook Coroner's Court, a devastating statement from Rhys's mum was read to the court.
In it, as read by the assistant coroner Simon Connolly, she said: "Rhys had started to make new friends in Durham and he moved over there from Middlesbrough. It was around this time that he developed his interest - an obsession - with motorbikes. ADVERTISEMENT
The coroner continued recalling Becky's evidence. He said: "Rhys had been pestering Becky about going through his CBT [compulsory basic training courts for a motorbike license] and eventually she agreed to pay for this and he past that first time. She starting helping to pay for parts for a bike he was in the process of doing up."
Becky's statement expressed her belief that Rhys had undiagnosed ADHD or autism. In the statement read by the coroner, Becky added: "Rhys called Daniel to ask if we would come up to Coxhoe to fix a broken down bike." She continued: "We arrived and found the bike couldn't be fixed and agreed to take the bike back to Crook." Describing Becky's statement, the coroner added: "It was agreed that Rhys would ride back so she could see Rhys riding the bike."
He continued: "She got a call from someone on Rhys's mobile and was told Rhys had been involved in an accident. Becky was screaming in the street and a member of the public offered to take her to the scene of the incident. When she arrived she saw police officers present and paramedics attending on Rhys.
"She says she knew because of how long the paramedics were working on Rhys that it wasn't going to be a positive outcome but that she was present at the side of the road when Rhys was sadly pronounced deceased. ADVERTISEMENT "To say that she was heartbroken would be an understatement.
She is finding it very difficult to accept what has happened and that Rhys is no longer here. This is something that she thinks she will never really come to terms with." Stepdad Daniel also gave evidence as to the tragic events of that August night.
Referring to the period when he was following Rhys in convoy back towards Coxhoe, he said: "His riding was good and to the speed limit. There was nothing about the manner of Rhys's riding that caused me any concern." He added: "The road bends to the right and at this time I lost sight of Rhys for a short time.
I have come around the bend and seen dust and smoke on one side of the road." Daniel quickly saw the bike Rhys had been riding and Rhys himself, who had been thrown from the bike and was in a bad way, and immediately called an ambulance and began attempting to perform CPR. Durham Police crash scene Investigator Carl Lee told the court how a comprehensive investigation found there was nothing wrong with the bikes or the road, and there was "no indication" that Rhys had been riding dangerously.
He told the court: "There was nothing to suggest he was doing anything he shouldn't have been." ADVERTISEMENT Mr Lee said that in his opinion the evidence he had seen did not point to Rhys having been intoxicated during the journey.
He said it was likely, based on Rhys's injuries, that he had been thrown into a road sign, but there was no physical evidence of this at the scene. Assistant Coroner Simon Connolly concluded Rhys's death had been accidental. In declaring his findings, the coroner said: "As to the facts I find that Rhys was 21 years of age at the time of his death.
I accept the evidence I have received from Becky Smith regarding that she believed him to have struggled with undiagnosed autism or ADHD throughout his life. "On that evidence and having raised the issue with Rhys's step-father I do find that whatever the diagnosis was, it often resulted in impulsive behaviour on his part which may or may not go some way to explaining the events of August 12 and 13. "In the years and certainly months before his death he developed an interest - on his mother's evidence, obsession - with motorbikes and he had passed his CBT.
While he had passed his test I am mindful that his friend Mr Walton described his inexperience and I do find he was an inexperienced rider." Turning to the sequence of events directly before Rhys's death, the coroner added: "Mr Welch followed Rhys [on the bike] and was in close proximity to Rhys during the course of that journey. But you lost sight of Rhys briefly while rounding a bend.
I found that at this time Rhys had, for reasons we have not been able to determine, lost control of the motorbike and crashed [...] resulting in multiple fatal traumatic injuries."
His formal conclusion was: "Rhys's death was accidental."