An investigation into a crash that claimed a teenager's life was "seriously hampered" when the illegal scramble bike he had been riding was deliberately removed from the scene, dumped and set on fire before police arrived.

An inquest in Bradford into the death of Anthony Pearson, 19, today heard how a man told police he had been pressured into driving the bike away from Broadstone Way, Holme Wood, by four other men who had picked it up from the road and loaded it on to his van.

Bradford Deputy Coroner Mark Hinchliffe, who recorded a verdict of accidental death, said all the police had to go on to identify the bike was "bits and pieces" found in debris at the scene and in a fire set by persons unknown next to the medical centre in Tong Street.

He said the "unlawful removal" of the bike had been deliberately staged.

"I can only speculate why the people who did it thought it would be helpful to Anthony, the police, me or Anthony's family. It was not helpful, it leaves unanswered questions," he said.

Mr Hinchliffe, who said it seemed to him that "some rash decisions had been made at the scene" also said there was no suggestion Anthony owned the bike but neither had its true owner ever been traced.

The inquest heard how on May 5 this year witness Laurence Worrall was leaning on a wall near Holme Wood Social Club when he saw Mr Pearson ride the motorcycle along the centre of Broadstone Way to avoid speed bumps.

In a statement read out to the court, he described how he saw the bike clip the side of one of the bumps and go into the air like a wheelie before it started to wobble out of control.

He then described how he saw the bike collide with a car being driven in the opposite direction that was moving slowly and indicating to turn right into Holme Wood Road.

"It all happened so quickly. The bike seemed to explode, the bike and rider went into the air, the bike went even higher," he said.

Mr Worrall went on to describe how he saw Mr Pearson hit railings at the side of the road, then bounce on the ground before hitting a beacon crossing pole and landing back down in the road head first. "It was like he was doing cartwheels," he said.

An accident investigator estimated Mr Pearson could have been travelling at about 40mph in a 30mph zone on the off-road moto-cross style bike at the time of the crash.

Shane Thompson, who was driving the Toyota Carina involved in the collision, told the inquest how he had fled in panic after seeing a group of people approach him from the nearby club. He stopped at the Co-op in Wibsey to call 999.

He said driving away from the scene had been "the stupidest thing" he had ever done but maintained he had been almost stationary and checked the way was clear before starting to turn right.

Mr Thompson said he had not see the bike: "I was going that slow, my car hardly moved. All I saw was a flash. It just felt I had run over a brick."

Recording his verdict, Mr Hinchliffe, who described the collision as "violent", said he felt Mr Pearson had been "there to be seen" but pointed out that research showed that car drivers had more difficulty noticing motorcycles than other cars. He said: "Mr Pearson did I think lose control and was not able to stop or avoid the collision. It was a tragic death, it well might have been avoided."

After the hearing, Mr Pearson's 39-year-old mother Michelle Pearson, who was at her son's side at Bradford Royal Infirmary when he died from "unsurvivable" injuries and internal bleeding, said her life was now in ruins.

Miss Pearson, who has another son, six-year-old Lewis, said: "I'm a wreck. I'm taking so many tablets. It's ruined my life, the pain is not going away."

e-mail: kathie.griffiths@bradford.newsquest.co.uk