A county Durham man died from severe head injuries after the motorcycle he was driving collided with a car on a holiday island, an inquest heard today.
The inquest at County Hall, Durham, heard that Sean Owen, 36, of Rowley Link, Esh Winning, Durham, was driving a hired motorcycle along the cost road at Malia, on the Greek island of Crete, when the accident happened last May.
He collided with a parked car and sustained fatal injuries to his head, which was not protected by a helmet.
In a statement to the Greek authorities, a witness said: "I was driving my motorcycle along Malia Coast Road and I noticed fragments of a red motorcycle.
"I immediately stopped to see what had happened and I saw a man, possibly a foreigner, lying face down with his head in a pool of blood."
A report confirmed that both vehicles were roadworthy and that the car was correctly parked.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, north Durham deputy coroner, Brenda Davidson, said: "He (Sean) appears to have been driving quite correctly. "He has been driving along the road and simply driven into the back of the parked vehicle."
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