Two schoolboys discovered the body of a young motorcyclist, days after he had crashed off the motorway and into a woodland area, an inquest heard today.

Edgars Novickis, 27, had been driving a red Honda CVR along the eastbound carriageway of the M40 near junction 4, between 11pm and midnight on November 13 last year, when he crashed off the motorway.

Garret Fay, head teacher at St Michael’s Catholic School, Daws Hill Lane, said he was told at around 9.35am on November 18 that two year 11 boys had discovered a body.

He said the boys had come to school but had not registered and one of them had an argument with his girlfriend and went off “in a huff” before his friend followed.

He said: “That is when they came across the body. They were very shaken up but they took me to the fence at the back of the school.

“I then saw a body lying face down and the front wheel of the motorbike was resting on the body. I guessed he had been there a while.”

Pathologist Dr David Bailey said Mr Novickis, a Latvian builder who was living in Welland Close in Langley, had suffered a serious head injury in the crash as well as fractures to his spine and ribs.

Toxicology reports revealed that Mr Novickis also had 190mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood - more than double the drink drive limit.

Jessica Jurczynska, girlfriend of Mr Novickis, said on the night of November 13, they had been drinking gin in the garage where he would work on the bike, before they had argued and she had left.

When she had returned later, he had disappeared.

Antonio Scotti then told the inquest he was driving on the M40 around junction 4 on night of the crash, when he saw a “powerful motorbike” pass him and “snake” past an articulated lorry that was in the nearside lane about 300 yards ahead.

He said: “To avoid colliding with the lorry, he veered harshly into lane two. The bike went left in front of the lorry and it went out of my sight. I thought he must have gone to the hard shoulder.

“The lorry driver would have been in the perfect position to see what happened. I am shocked he did not stop or report what he had seen.”

After returning from a trip to The Netherlands, Mr Scotti saw the police witness appeal board on the M40 and reported what he had seen.

Coroner Richard Hulett recorded a conclusion of death caused by road traffic collision, but said it was a ‘mystery’ as to why the driver of the lorry did not report what he is likely to have seen.

He said: “We know children should not abscond from school, but on this occasion, had these pupils been in school, Mr Novickis may have laid there a very long time, perhaps months.”