Motorcyclist and passenger killed in Sedgefield accident

Nov 2 2009 by Joanne Butcher, The Journal

A MOTORCYCLIST and his passenger have died after their bike hit a parked car.

Craig Poulter, 29, and Jonathan Whitfield, 30, were riding along the B1278 Salters Lane, near Winterton Cottages, Sedgefield, County Durham in the early hours of Saturday morning when their green Yamaha motorbike hit a Ford Focus.

The men were flung over the car and on to the footpath. Both sustained severe injuries, and died before they could be treated by medics.

Their bodies were taken to University Hospital of North Durham, where they were formally identified by relatives.

Mr Poulter, of The Green in Bishop Middleham, was the owner and rider of the motorbike, while Mr Whitfield, from Heatherdene Road in Fishburn, was his pillion passenger.

Yesterday, their families were too devastated by the tragedy to speak about their heartache.

But friends and relatives have already started to leave flowers to mark the spot where the two popular young men lost their lives.

One neighbour of Mr Whitfield, who lived with his parents, said: “He was a lovely lad. He would always say hello in the street. It is such a tragedy. His mother is so upset. She couldn’t bear to go and identify the body.”