A GRANDFATHER was killed after a banned motorcyclist ran into him, flinging him up into the air.

Charles Victor Rushton, known as Vic, of Walker Avenue in Great Lever, Bolton, was crossing Manchester Road East in Walkden when the Yamaha R1 1000cc ran into him.

He was on the way to St Andrew's Primary School to pick up his two grandchildren.

Coroner Jennifer Leeming heard how, on April 24 last year, Mr Rushton, aged 65, had started to cross the busy road to reach the traffic island in the centre. Traffic lights at Hilton Lane were on red and traffic was stationary.

The banned motorcycle rider, Simon Shaw, of Little Hulton, overtook the traffic on the outside of the vehicles before running into him. He then fled the scene.

Mr Rushton died the day afterwards in the Royal Bolton Hospital from multiple injuries.

Bus driver Stephen Budnar, who telephoned for an ambulance, had stopped his bus just in front of the crossing point.

He said: "I saw the motorbike coming up at the side of the bus and then it just hit the man."

Witness Julie Jackson was talking to a friend at the side of the road. She said: "I didn't see the collision but I first caught sight of the bike at the back of the bus and it was going fast. I then saw the bike on the floor, a driver and a passenger, both wearing helmets. The driver got back on the bike and picked the passenger up on the corner of the street."

A young boy, who was not named, was praised by Miss Leeming for his prompt actions. He had managed to identify the driver and helped a woman to take down the motorbike's registration details.

Shaw was later sentenced to 22 weeks in prison at Salford Magistrates Court for driving while disqualified and banned from driving for 10 years. His bike was later found in a shed in Blackpool.

Miss Leeming said she would write to Salford council to ask for the crossing point to be made into a formal crossing to make it safer.

She recorded a verdict of accidental death