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- Died in a motorcycle accident as a pillion passenger on a one man bike. Coroner's inquest. ------ Birmingham Post 8/2/1924 Moreton v. Mallett Birmingham Police Court Yesterday - before the stipendiary (Lord Ilkeston) Dangerous Driving Horace Moreton (23) a toolmaker, of 39 Passey Rd, Moseley, was summoned for dangerous driving. Mr M.P.Pugh, prosecuting, said he could only place the case before the court as one of the worst cases of speeding which he had ever brought. On Wednesday, February 15, defendant, with a girl named Dorothy Mallett (now dead) riding on the pillion, was seen to drive down a busy stretch of Moseley Rd at 10.5 p.m. at a speed estimated to be between 40 and 50 miles an hour. He hit a woman who was crossing the road and ran on 88 yards before falling over into the road. Before the machine overturned the girl pillion-rider was thrown off. She died later. In a statement made to Inspector Taylor it was alleged that Moreton acknowledged that when he passed Edward Road his speedometer registered between 30 and 35 miles an hour. He was sitting on the peak of the saddle, and the girl, who had been for rides with him before, was half on the saddle and half on a cushion, and was 'riding by balance' as was her custom. He had no proper pillion seat on the machine. A Mrs Jackson came suddenly from behind a tram, and he caught her, thus losing his grip. The cycle 'skidded and slid on along the greasy road for some distance.' A witness, whose attention was drawn to the machine after the collision, said there was a 'shower of sparks' following it. Moreton said he did not now think he was running at the speed which he said he was in his statement. He had been riding with a sidecar since Christmas, and this being his first 'solo' ride this year he felt strange. Mr Pugh said that at the inquest on Dorothy Mallett on February 23, the jury returned a verdict of 'Accidental death', but severely censured defendant for his excessive speed on the road, which, they felt, contributed to the cause of the accident. The Coroner endorsed what the jury found. The Stipendiary, fining Moreton Ð10 and 10s. costs (or 31 days), and suspending his licence for two years, said the case certainly was a very serious one and Moreton was fortunate not to be appearing on a more serious charge.
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1911 - 1928 (16 years)
