A TEENAGER who died from head injuries after falling from his moped was not wearing a crash helmet, an inquest was told.

Benjamin Hart, 17, of Glebe Lane, Barming, near Maidstone, was riding with three friends in Oaken Woods, Barming, on Saturday, April 17 last year when he crashed.

An inquest held in Maidstone heard that Benjamin, known as Ben, had been left to ride while his friends walked away and was supposed to catch them up.

But when the group could not hear the engine, they returned to find him lying in the road. They called the emergency services and Ben was taken to Maidstone Hospital but died the same day. There was no sign of alcohol or drugs in his system.

Police investigations showed that the bike came off the road at a steep curve and hit a tree head-on.

Coroner for Mid-Kent and Medway Roger Sykes said: "He died from head injuries due to a moped crash. For reasons that have not been established he lost control and collided with a tree sustaining fatal head injuries, not wearing a crash helmet.

"I am unable to explain certain potential causes for loss of control, but can exclude that that it was any defect in the machine."

He added: "This was simply the most tragic of accidents."