A MAN who died in a high-speed crash was riding a motorbike that was more powerful than he realised.

An inquest into the death of Marlon Vella heard his bike had been sold on after being seized from its original owner by the Metropolitan Police - but police had not picked up that it had been upgraded to a more powerful model.

The popular barber died after the Yamaha bike he was riding took a bend at around 55mph, overtaking a car, before mounting a kerb and crashing into a tree.

A police car on blue lights behind Mr Vella was not following him - but was responding to a separate emergency call, the inquest heard.

Coroner Nicholas Lane said the power of the bike being unknown to Mr Vella could have been a "contributing factor" - one of many - that led to the "tragic" death of the 21-year-old.

The coroner said he had found that a black Yamaha scooter, with the same registration as Mr Vella's, was seized by Met Police in March 2019, due to that previous owner having no insurance.

The Met Police later processed the scooter for sale through an auction company. "It would appear the scooter was purchased by Mr Vella (Marlon's dad Emmanuel)," the coroner said.

"The vehicle identification number (VIN) that was noted on the vehicle seized is identical to the one on the scooter (Marlon was driving)."

He said the vehicle was a 249cc, rather than 124cc, and this was not recorded by Met Police.

"The fact the vehicle had been changed did not appear to have been picked up by anybody in the Met Police during the seizure process, prior to the sale.

"It is clearly most unfortunate Marlon, through no fault of his own, or his father's when purchasing the bike, came to be riding a 249cc scooter when the logbook showed it should have been a 144cc model."

Mr Vella, from Worcester, died in the crash in Primsland Way, Droitwich, on April 27, 2020.

The inquest heard from PC John Smart who told the inquest he had been called to a domestic violence incident, so had put his police car on blue lights prior to the crash.

PC Smart said he had turned into Primsland Way at speed and in front he saw Marlon on the bike that was "a bit of blur" as it sped off.

"I was shocked," PC Smart said.

"The bike must have been going at some speed because I was above the limit myself," PC Smart said.

He said he then came across the crash involving Mr Vella, and was asked by the coroner when he knew it was serious.

"Probably from the start," PC replied.

"At no stage were you pursuing the bike?" the coroner asked.

"No sir," PC Smart replied.

Coroner Lane read out the toxicology and pathology reports, and said that the medical cause of death had been reported as chest injuries.

He said that those reports had also shown Mr Vella had cannabis in his system which he said would not have helped with the driving.

The coroner said it was unclear whether Mr Vella had reacted to the presence of the police, or been distracted by the police car's lights and sirens, but in any event he had been going too fast round the bend.

"It might also be correct to say Marlon was inexperienced riding the 249cc model," said the coroner.

"It was possible this meant his ability to drive the bike at higher speeds round bends was diminished."

Coroner Lane recorded a verdict of road traffic collision at Worcestershire Coroner's Court in Stourport on Tuesday (November 3).

The coroner said the matter of the bike's wrong classification was to be raised at the Police Chiefs Council, adding he was content that would deal with the matter.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct investigated the crash due to the proximity of the police car when the bike crashed.