A BIKER died after his best friend collided with him while the pair were out riding, an inquest has been told.

Robert Kirton, 32, suffered multiple fatal injuries in the accident on the A28 near Chartham and attempts to revive him at the scene failed.

His Kawasaki ZX600 was hit from behind by 30-year-old Paul Harvey, who was riding a Suzuki GSXR 600, immediately after they had both overtaken a car.

The pair, who had been friends since childhood, both came off their machines but Mr Kirton, of Brookfield Road, South Ashford, hit a telegraph pole at the side of the road.

The inquest heard they were riding from Ashford to an evening biker meeting at Kent Motorcycles in Barham last July when the accident happened.

Witness Michael Wellington, from Farnborough in Hampshire, told the hearing he was driving towards Canterbury when he noticed the headlights of two bikes in his rear view mirror.

He said: “They were behind each other and came past me quite quickly, quite close apart.

“It all happened very quickly but the first one pulled in and appeared to brake just as the second one pulled in and I was just aware of two motorcycles sliding down the road.”

His passenger, Valerie Ellis, of Strangers Lane, Canterbury, said: “Michael commented, 'hell, they’re moving’ and they were very close together. The first bike pulled in front of us and braked and I know the second bike touched the back of the first.”

The collision between the two machines was confirmed by police accident investigator PC Andrew Sutherland.

From marks in the road he estimated the speed of the Suzuki to be between 51mph to 60mph when it hit the ground.

Disputing Mr Harvey’s comments to the police that he was observing up to a three second gap between them, PC Sutherland said: “If that was so, in my opinion the gap would have been around 68 metres and the rider would have had time to take evasive action.”

Mr Harvey, a construction worker of Brattle, Woodchurch, near Ashford, used his right under the coroner’s rules not to answer questions which might incriminate him, only saying they were best friends and had been riding together for several years.

But coroner Rebecca Cobb did read his statement to police, made shortly after the accident, in which he admitted the bikes had collided.

He said they had overtaken other bikers on the A28, who were going much slower, but were not over the 60mph limit.

He said in his statement: “My memory is not good but I overtook a car and looked in my mirrors to see it was safe to pull in.

“When I looked up, Rob was braking and his speed dropping dramatically.

“I thought, 'Oh my God, why is he braking like this’, because there was nothing in front of him.

“I work to the rule to leave a two-second gap and I was a good three seconds behind.

“I was doing everything I could to slow down but in hindsight, looking in my mirrors may have played some role in not being able to stop.”

The coroner recorded a verdict of accident death.