A "SNAP decision" cost a motorcyclist his life, an inquest heard.

Nigel Darwood, from Basildon, was pronounced dead at the scene after "leaving it too late" to come off the A483 carriageway in Wrexham on July 10, 2019.

The incident occurred shortly before 5pm at the northbound exit slip road with the B5426 near Johnstown.

Emergency services, including an air ambulance, attended the scene but despite their best efforts, the 52-year-old, of Mapleford Sweep, was pronounced dead at about 5.45pm.

An inquest into Mr Darwood’s death held in Ruthin on Tuesday heard from witnesses who saw the biker “fly into the air while still holding the handles” before being thrown off the bike and landing on the ground and hitting a crash barrier.

The court heard that Mr Darwood, a forklift driver by trade, had been travelling on a black Yamaha 950 motorbike on the outside lane of the carriageway behind his wife, Georgina, when the latter is said to have cut just a couple of meters in front of a HGV before exiting the slip road, with Mr Darwood doing the same moments later.

Witnesses say Mrs Darwood was able to make it onto the off-slip, but her husband missed the tarmac on the slip road causing him to lose control of his bike after striking a grass verge which "catapulted him into the air".

The driver of the HGV described it as the "worst piece of driving I'd ever seen".

He said: "He looked over his left shoulder and made eye contact with me. I said ‘Oh God, what’s he doing here?' I was shocked by what I’d seen.”

The inquest heard the statement of a second witness, which described the pair pulling out in front of the HGV as “like something out of a movie", and that the pairs driving was "dangerous and crazy".

The court heard that Mrs Darwood had been following a satnav when she realised she should be taking the northbound off-slip, making a "late decision" to do so.

Witnesses stated that Mr Darwood, described as an "experienced motorcyclist", did not have enough time to get onto the slip road after overtaking and cutting in front of the HGV.

Collision investigators from North Wales Police said that "the snap decision" to follow his wife "cost Mr Darwood his life".

A post mortem examination into Mr Darwood's death ruled the cause of death to be fatal head injury.

It found no evidence of alcohol in his system, and only medical drugs which were at a "therapeutic level".

Coroner for North East Wales and Central, John Gittins, recorded the cause of death as Road Traffic Collision caused by fatal head injury.

Following Mr Darwood’s death, his family described him as a “hard working and dedicated family man” who was a “loving husband, father, and grandad”.