A family man with a passion for motorbikes suffered a tragic “untimely” death doing something he loved.

Henry John Lowe – known as John to his loved ones – passed away following a crash between his motorbike and a car on Marlborough Road, Swindon, on August 2, 2023 at 10:15pm.

An inquest on November 12 heard that John, aged 60, suffered multiple traumatic injuries as a result of a road traffic collision and he was pronounced deceased by a paramedic at the scene.

The coroner explained that the collision occurred when John was riding east towards the Windsor Road mini roundabout on his Suzuki bike, while a BMW was indicating to turn right.

(Image: Dave Cox)

As the car was turning, the bike dropped on the passenger side of the car and John and his bike slid into the vehicle.

In a statement read by the coroner, John’s daughter Molly Porter described him as a “larger than life” character with an “eye for bargains” and a very strong bond with his family.

John was the eldest of three children and had a brother and sister. He spent his early life in Devizes as a farmhand and professional potato picker, before his family moved to Swindon.

Later in life he worked as a HGV driver and was often away driving around Europe. After getting divorced before the Covid lockdown, John briefly rented a one-bedroom flat in Devizes before deciding living alone was not for him.

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John and Molly decided to combine their incomes to live in a larger property together in Swindon, which also allowed John to be closer to his grandchildren.

His other love was for the Cutthroats Motorcycle Club and he took “great pride” in spending time with his brothers, who attended his funeral to pay their respects.

The inquest heard that police officers were driving around Marlborough Road on August 2, 2023 heading westbound towards Old Town when they noticed a motorbike on the opposite side of the road, which they believed was travelling at “excessive” speed.

The two officers turned around and said they were travelling at 45 miles per hour to catch up with the motorbike, but the crash had sadly already happened and they cordoned off the area.

The BMW driver was an approved driving instructor with no motoring convictions, who drove around 35,000 miles per year. He said he was heading to the gym after work on the night of the incident and would normally travel via Queens Drive, but it was shut.

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He described checking his mirrors and not seeing any other vehicles, so he began turning onto the roundabout, but suddenly saw a headlight and the car “jolted” with impact.

The airbags were deployed and the driver exited the vehicle to find John motionless. 

HM senior coroner, David Ridley, concluded that John was travelling at 46 to 49 miles per hour on a 30 mile per hour road and he therefore had “insufficient time to react and avoid the collision”.

After the inquest, Molly told the Advertiser: “We saw him everyday, except unfortunately the day he passed away.

"I have a wife and he was always the man of the house and he kept us safe. He would constantly be changing light bulbs, decorating and doing manual labour. We always curse him when we have to do something around the house.

“It was a big thing to go through his room, my son was five at the time, so he wanted to go in there a lot and talk about grandad’s things and what he had told him.

“For a long time I had to keep the door closed, but over time I’ve gone through it all. He was definitely a collector - lots of different knick-knacks like watches, lighters and records and not things you’d see everyone collecting.”

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