Drivers '˜abused' people comforting injured motorcyclist in fatal Fareham crash

Julie Corben, 55, died after a crash between her Harley Davidson black motorbike and Elaine Dorey’s blue Fiat Doblo in The Avenue, Fareham, on June 15, 2015.

Roofer Ian Tranter was giving evidence on the fourth day of 62-year-old Dorey’s trial at Portsmouth Crown Court.

Mr Tranter was returning from the tip at Segensworth when he stopped his van at the lights at Highlands Road and saw grandmother Mrs Corben on her motorbike.

He told jurors she drove off when the light turned green but he ‘saw something’ happen as he drove in the same direction before going to comfort her as he realised she was injured in a collision.

Mr Tranter said: ‘We were trying to comfort the lady while we waited for other people to turn up.

‘We were having people drive around us in their cars being very abusive to us, the fact we blocked the road off and the lady was on the floor.’

He added: ‘I really, to this day, find that very shocking.

‘They were literally driving around us.’

Earlier he had told the jury the speed he thought Mrs Corben was travelling at.

He said: ‘Both of us pulled away at the same time but the motorcyclist accelerated, I think I worded it like a “bat out of hell” – disappeared into the distance rather rapidly.’

Asked how fast the bike was going, he said: ‘A lot faster than 40 miles an hour.’

He said he ‘saw something happen’ at the next junction when he was ‘quite a way off’.

Mr Tranter told how he then comforted Mrs Corben.

He said: ‘At the same time we’re trying to speak to the motorcyclist, get a name, the bike, say “you’ll be alright”, try to get a name of the lady.’

A doctor arrived with her husband, who helped Mr Tranter move the bike, which was leaking fuel.

He said: ‘We were both shaking at what we saw and what we witnessed. We spent most of the time trying to speak to the lady on the road.

‘It was shock really, when we saw the lady and the condition she was in. It wasn’t pleasant.’

Dorey, of Westcroft Road, Gosport, denies causing death by careless driving.

(Proceeding)