AN inquest into the death of a police officer from Urmston said his death was caused by a mixture of alcohol consumption and poor weather conditions.


Father-of-two Gerrard Nicholas Chambers, aged 41, died when he lost control of his motorcycle on Flixton Road, Flixton.


The inquest at South Manchester coroners court heard how on January 5 2012, Mr Chambers, known as Gerry, had left his family home on Lawrence Road just after midnight, after an argument with his wife. Mr Chambers had been drinking.


The court heard how a neighbour had witnessed Mr Chambers drive down Laurence Road on his Honda CBR900 Fireblade at an excessive speed, negotiating between parked cars as he did.


PC Paul Joynson, the reporting officer, told the court that wind speeds were more than 60mph on the night of Mr Chambers’ death, making driving conditions dangerous.


Police were called to Flixton Road, just half a mile from Mr Chambers’ home, at 12.35am.


When they arrived, officers found Mr Chambers lying on the floor outside a house, with his motorbike lying on top of him.


It is believed Mr Chambers lost control of his motorbike when he took a bend too wide, well in excess of the 30mph speed limit in place on Flixton Road.


His front wheel struck the curb, causing both him and his bike to slide more than 15m into a gate post at the adjacent property.


Mr Chambers suffered serious head injuries and multiple fractures to his spinal chord.
Samples of his blood showed that Mr Chambers was almost three times over the legal limit.


A post mortem by pathologist Professor Haboubi confirmed the cause of death was the multiple fractures Mr Chambers had sustained to his spine.


Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner John Pollard said: “Mr Chambers drove off at high speed, with the most important factor into his death being the alcohol he had consumed.


“Despite being an experienced motorcycle driver, driving a bike in that way in those weather conditions would have been a challenge for any driver but with that much alcohol in his system, it would have been impossible.”


The coroner offered his condolences to Mr Chambers’ family.