AN APPRENTICE builder, who died after he was thrown over the handlebars of his motorbike, was 11 times above the drug-driving limit, an inquest heard.

Brett Hames, 24, was propelled from his 125cc machine after catching the foot-peg on the grass verge while negotiating a right-hand bend on Pole Lane, between Cowling and Keighley, on December 5 last year.

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PC Stuart Langford, a traffic constable at North Yorkshire Police, said a toxicology reading had revealed the level of cannabis in Mr Hames’ blood was 22.4 nanograms per 100ml of blood.

The limit, introduced in March this year, is two nanograms per 100ml of blood.

PC Langford told the hearing in Skipton that amount of cannabis would have impaired Mr Hames’ driving ability by slowing his reactions. He also said there was no evidence of another vehicle being involved, although Jonas Gasiumas, of Arctic Street, Keighley, the first driver on the scene, had earlier seen a van turn out of Pole Lane as he turned in.

“We can’t discount that another vehicle was involved and perhaps left the scene unaware of what had happened,” said PC Langford.

From examining the motorcycle and the scene, he believed the bike slowed down rapidly after the foot-peg hit the verge and Mr Hames, of Foulridge, went over the handlebars.

The former Haslingden High and Craven College student had been returning from his work as an apprentice property engineer at a firm in Keighley when the incident occurred.

Coroner Rob Turnbull, who recorded a verdict of death by road traffic accident, heard that Mr Hames, who died later that day, had suggested another vehicle had been involved.

Samantha Jackson, of Cowling, who came upon the accident shortly after Mr Gasiumas, and who covered him with a blanket, said Mr Hames told her “it was their fault”.

She said: “I don’t know who he meant when he said that and I didn’t ask him how it happened, but he was lucid and didn’t seem seriously hurt,” she said.

Lorry driver Christopher Riley, of Settle, who also arrived on the scene and phoned for an ambulance, said Mr Hames had taken his helmet off after the accident. Mr Hames told him another vehicle was involved, which was travelling too fast.

Mr Hames’s tearful mother, Tania Williams, told the inquest that her son suffered from ADHD and said she deplored cannabis but that the drug helped her son deal with his problems and lead a normal life.