Dad killed in crash after ‘turning life around’

Pave 'Paul' Corkovic died from "multiple injuries" after a crash on his way home from a day trip to Merseyside

08:31, 01 Apr 2025Updated 08:33, 01 Apr 2025

A dad died following a crash on his way home from a day to trip to Southport[1]. An inquest heard Pave 'Paul' Corkovic died of multiple injuries after his motorbike, a green Kawasaki Z900, hit a kerb and crashed into the central reservation of the A5063 Albion Way, a dual carriageway in Salford, shortly before 6pm on June 22, last year.

The 60-year-old died at the scene close to Salford Crescent railway station. The HGV driver was previously head of a prolific gang which attacked security guards delivering and collecting cash at banks and supermarkets in the mid 1990s, reports the Manchester Evening News[2].

However, his family said in a tribute shortly after the crash that Mr Corkovic had "turned his life around".

They said: "There are no words to express how we feel. We as a family are in disbelief and none of us will ever forget him.

"Drago, the twins' big brother, will make sure they know everything about their dad, especially how he turned his life around and did right by them. He loved being a family man and was their protector, provider and a constant presence in their lives.

"Nt, Drago, the twins, your dog Rocky, the family and your many beloved friends are so proud of how far you've come.

We will miss you Pave and your legacy will live on through your kids. As Pave would say; 'Life is a question of mind over matter, I don't mind and you don't matter'."

His partner Ntokozo Buyle Khumalo told an inquest at Bolton Coroners' Court on Monday, March 31 she was out of the country at the time of the crash but that Mr Corkovic had texted her after he had finished work for that day. He told his partner he was heading to Southport "with the lads" on his motorbike he had purchased eight months earlier.

She told the court he was an experienced rider who had been riding motorcycles "all his life".

Lee Reading, an eyewitness of the crash, provided a statement which was read out in court.

He told the inquest he was driving his car with his family on board when he saw a motorbike hit a kerb and then crash into the central reservation, unseating its rider and propelling them over the two lanes of the opposite carriageway and into bushes.

Mr Reading went to help Mr Corkovic who he said was "groaning". He told him not to move until paramedics arrived. However, despite efforts to revive him, he died of "multiple injuries" at the scene.

No drugs and only a "negligible" level of alcohol was found his system, although this may have been generated by his body after death, the inquest heard.

His friend and fellow HGV driver Sean Devalda told the inquest he and Mr Corkovic had ridden their motorbikes for a day-trip to Southport and the crash happened as the pair were nearing their homes.

Mr Corkovic family were away in Croatia, so the friends agreed to go on the ride, using the A-roads to travel to Southport where they enjoyed an ice-cream and a meal at an Italian restaurant.

They then headed back, this time using the motorways rather than the A-roads, Mr Devalda confirmed. The two riders had left the M602 and negotiated stationary traffic at a set of red lights before the lights turned green.

Mr Devalda said he "shot off" when the lights turned green and he only learned of the crash when a third motorcyclist informed him of the crash "a few seconds later". When he returned after navigating a one-way system in the area, he said he saw people "working on Pave" and he informed the police of his presence.

He told the court he was arrested by police but the inquest heard there was no evidence that the witness had been speeding.

Mr Devalda said that when he returned he noticed the second lane of Albion Way, on which Mr Corkovic was said to have been riding, was 'damaged' and there was a "great dip which could easily make you lose control".

Police collision investigator PC Adam Cooper said analysis of Mr Corkovic's motorbike showed it had "no defects" before the crash and he found no defects in the road which would have contributed the crash. No "lubricants" were found on the carriageway and the weather[3] at the time was fine and dry, he said.

He said there were a few grids along a straight section of the road and that one was slightly raised, but he went on that motorbikes were designed to navigate such grids and there was no evidence the machine had gone over the grid in question.

The inquest heard that although CCTV was collected, no footage captured the crash. PC Cooper, who said he was also a motorcyclist, said he would have expected the machine to take a different line than one that would have taken the bike over the grid.

The officer said there was no evidence that the Kawasaki had applied the brakes and rubber deposits found at the scene suggested it had struck the kerb before hitting the central reservation.

The bike had remained upright for a short distance before its left handlebar struck a pole and Mr Corkovic was unseated, the inquest heard.

The court also heard there was no evidence of the speed of the Kawasaki before the crash. Drago Corkovic, Mr Corkovic's son, said he visited the scene of the crash later and he questioned the police officer about yellow marking in crayon near the grid.

PC Cooper said he would not have expected the bike to travelling on a line which took it over the grid and that, if there was a problem there, he would have expected police to be called to that spot "more regularly".

Det Sgt Matthew Waggett, in charge of the investigation, said: "I'm aware of the concerns around the grid. If there was a road defect identified that was so dangerous, we would not have re-opened the carriageway and immediate repairs would have been made but that was not the case."

Recording a "road traffic collision", conclusion, Assistant Coroner Stephen Teasdale recorded the medical cause of death as "multiple injuries" and said there was "no evidence" anyone else was involved in the crash.

Mr Teasdale said there was no evidence the bike had taken a line which would have taken it over the grid and no evidence it would have caused a crash even if it had.

He said he had heard evidence from the police which suggested the rider had "lost control".

Mr Corkovic's past reputation stemmed from an astonishing spree of robberies which began just months after he had been released from prison for other offences in October 1994.

Having recruited a new team he set up a base in a lock-up at Irlam industrial estate and the gang armed themselves with sawn-off shotguns, sledgehammers, machetes, baseball bats and an AK47 assault rifle.

References

1. ^ Southport (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
2. ^ Manchester Evening News (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
3. ^ weather (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)