A long-time friend has paid a glowing tribute to a 46-year-old dad and football coach who died after losing control of his motorcycle on a country road in Scotland. An inquest heard how Ben Speakman came off his BMW bike after overtaking a car before braking for a left-hand bend on the A816 near Kilmartin, south of Oban on September 20 last year.
The bike hit the crash barrier and Ben was thrown to the ground and he sustained 'unsurvivable' chest injuries. The father-of-two, of Ennerdale Drive, Bury, was with 19 other motorbikers enjoying a week's holiday in Scotland when tragedy struck.
Assistant coroner for Greater Manchester North Matthew Cox, sitting at Rochdale, heard told how Bury-born Ben had held a motorbike licence for 16 years and used his machine daily to commute to work.
