Mr. Mark Anthony Anderson · Prevention of Future Deaths report

On 30 May 2019 an inquest was opened was into the death of Mr. Mark Anthony Anderson aged 22 who had died at Trelai Park, Cardiff on 28 May 2019. The circumstances were that Mark Anderson together with other motorcycling friends had met at Trelai Park to ride their motorcycles ‘off-road’. This was a common venue for such activities although the area was not designated for motorcycling but as an area for parents to be with their children, dog walkers and joggers.

The deceased was not wearing any motorcycling clothing and witnesses state that the deceased was not wearing a helmet. Detective Inspector ████████ advised that the area was “well known for off-road biking” and what might have been a “bumper from a scrambling–type motorcycle“ had been found at the scene.

Persons present at the scene were reluctant to furnish the police with any details of what had occurred and the motorcycle used by the deceased was ‘spirited away’ from the scene. It has neither been traced nor examined by the police forensics team.

████████, a member of the public who lived locally, was teaching her 8 year old son how to ride his peddle cycle in Trelai Park on the afternoon of the accident. She told the inquest that her attention had been drawn to two motorcyclists one of whom was doing ‘wheelies’ around the park. The two motorcycles then began racing each other around the park very fast. Since they were in the vicinity of her son she called him to her for fear he could be injured and they then left the park. She was not surprised to hear that there had been a fatal accident involving the motorcyclists.

She stated that there was considerable public concern about the safety of the public especially children who use Trelai Park for exercise and recreational purposes due to the presence of motorcyclists who use the park for ‘off road’ activities. She thought complaints had been made to the Council about the danger posed to the public by such activities but that they had gone unchecked. ████████ stated that as far as she was aware, the motorcycling was not regulated or confined to specific areas of the park and it was on the whole, young guys wanting to let off steam. Finally, while she accepted that ‘off road’ motorcycling was an activity young males enjoyed and for which there should be some accommodation by the Council, her immediate concern was for the safety of children and pedestrians.

The tragedy occurred when motorcycles on the same narrow path traversing the park, travelling in opposite directions approached each other. Each swerved to avoid the other but in doing so swerved into each other’s path. Mark Anderson suffered fatal head injuries. Life was declared extinct at the scene. The CoD provided at post mortem was:-

1a. Anterior basal skull fracture with laceration of intracranial internal carotid arteries.

Toxicology analyses of post-mortem blood and urine confirmed neither drugs nor alcohol had been consumed in the hours prior to death.

The safety of the general public, in particular children and the elderly, is at risk while motorcyclists continue to use Trelai Park as an unfettered area for racing their motorcycles.