Gary Peplow tragedy: Motorbike death crash in Spain remains a mystery

Gary Peplow was on a tour of Europe with friends when he hit the barrier.

The 50-year-old father, from Bewdley, suffered heavy blood loss as a result of multiple injuries.

But mystery surrounds what caused the experienced rider to crash, with Worcestershire coroner Andrew Cox suggesting he could have fallen asleep while on his bike.

His father Graham Peplow, aged 76, told the inquest at Stourport Coroner's Court: "His bike was virtually untouched, only a couple of scratches on it."

Sat nav footage recovered from the bike showed Mr Peplow veering to the right before grazing the barrier. Footage from his go-pro camera has not been sent over by Spanish authorities despite requested by the coroner, the hearing was told.

Mr Peplow was thrown from his bike after striking the barrier, landing on his chin and chest. He was wearing his safety helmet at the time of the crash.

Mr Cox continued: "That is consistent perhaps with someone falling asleep whilst driving. This is all speculation. I do not think we are going to usefully take this any further."

Friend of Mr Peplow, and organiser of the trip, Philip Morgan, aged 63, said at the inquest: "Gary was on good form, he was really enjoying himself.

"There was six of us. We had split into groups of three. Gary's fellow riders Christopher Patrick and Richard Martin were only alerted to what happened when a motorist flagged them down and said their friend had come off his bike.

"We were travelling from Porto to Segovia which is around 20 to 30 miles north of Madrid. It was 330 mile trip and we left Porto at around 8.30am.

"We stopped twice for a break, close to the Spanish and Portuguese border."

Mr Peplow, of Coniston Way, was on a motorcycling holiday with friends when tragedy struck at 5.55pm on August 23 last year.

The coroner recorded a verdict of death as a result of a road traffic collision. Cause of death was confirmed as cardiorespiratory arrest and blood loss due to multiple injuries

However, a post mortem did not reveal any underlying medical incident prior to his collision with the barrier, his family believe something else must have happened.

Mr Peplow's parnjer Isabelle Clarke, aged 44, said: "It is strange. If you clip a barrier, presumably you wake up, but there's nothing to suggest he out his hands out or anything."

Mr Peplow, who worked at Handy Insurance Services in Stourport until 2012, was killed a decade after his brother Dean died in a motorcycle crash.