A 21-year-old Royal Navy sailor was killed in a road crash caused by the 'reckless' actions of a scooter rider who was on the wrong side of the road, a coroner has ruled.

Aircraft engineer Rohan Hicks died instantly after his motorcycle was hit by a Honda scooter ridden by a 31-year-old Lawrence King, who later received a suspended jail sentence for causing death by careless driving.

King, aged 31, was trying to overtake a line of three cars on the B3252 at Horningtops, near Liskeard, to go past the cars just before 10pm on June 29,  2022.

An inquest at Cornwall Coroner's Court was told by an independent witness that King was 'riding like an idiot' and 'showing off to people' in one of the cars. The coroner was told RN Air Engineering Technician Hicks could be seen up to three seconds before the collision.

King appeared at Truro Crown Court in May this year where he admitted driving without due care and attention and was jailed for one year, suspended for two years, and banned from driving for five years.

During the inquest hearing, Mr Hicks' parents Emma and Jack said: "This man has got away with killing my son. The justice system, the judge and the CPS have failed, the system is broken. He is a scumbag."

The assistant coroner Guy Davies said King’s riding was reckless and said: "I find that King was probably racing when he made the overtake."

Mr Davies said King gave two accounts which were at 'odds with each other' and described him as 'an unreliable witness'.

He said Mr Hicks, from Looe, was not at fault at all but said King's reckless riding and racing caused his death. coroner recorded a road traffic collision conclusion.

The victim, who was being fast tracked for promotion in the Navy, died from blunt head injury and died at the scene.

He had trained at RAF Yeovilton in Somerset and served at RNAS Culdrose. He was based at HMS Sultan at Gosport at the time of his death. The coroner recorded a road traffic collision conclusion.

During the hearing Mr Hicks' parents said: "This man has got away with killing my son. The justice system, the judge and the CPS have failed, the system is broken. He is a scumbag."

King suffered life threatening injuries which he has recovered from.

Speaking after King was sentenced in May, serious collision investigator, PC Helen Lentern said: “This tragic case highlights the importance of conducting safe overtakes.

“Before conducting an overtake, drivers and riders must ensure the road is sufficiently clear ahead, other road users are not beginning to overtake you and there is a suitable gap in front of the road user you plan to overtake.

“Do not overtake if there is any doubt or where you might come into conflict with other road users.”

The family of Rohan Hicks also paid tribute to him and said: “On June 29, 2022, Rohan was cruelly taken from us, our precious son. The pain of his loss is physical and emotional and comes in waves throughout every single day. It is unbearable to accept that we will never see Rohan again.

“Many of our family try to imagine that he is on deployment and may walk back through the door again, complaining about being hungry.

“Rohan was a proud AET in the Royal Navy, as a family we are so unbelievably proud of what Rohan achieved in his very short life, he was kind, thoughtful, ambitious and driven. 

“He lit up every room he walked into with his infectious personality, sense of humour, beautiful smile and generosity of spirit. Rohan had a good moral compass and was a credit to his family and friends.

“Rohan and our family have been robbed of a future happiness, Rohan will never marry and have the children that he wanted. Our lives will be forever poorer for not having Rohan in them, as will the people that he was yet to meet and the family that he would have had.”