A “kind” company director who crashed his motorbike into a parked car after an evening out on the town had given his safety helmet to his female passenger before setting off, an inquest heard.

Stephen Jones, from Cedar Avenue, Hazlemere, died at around 4am on October 15 last year after crashing his Honda motorbike into a car parked in a lay-by in Paradise Orchard, Aylesbury. His passenger survived the crash.

Earlier that evening, the 37-year-old had been out with a friend in Aylesbury when they got talking to a woman named Danielle Canbin.

The pair had been in The White Hart pub when they met Ms Canbin and had spent the evening “drinking and dancing”, according to a witness statement from the woman.

Ms Canbin said the three of them had been to two nightclubs, Niche and Mirage, before heading off to Mr Jones’ friend’s house at around 3am.

Describing the events of the evening, Ms Canbin said: “My friends went home but I didn’t want to go home, I wanted to go onto a nightclub. The two guys [Stephen and his friend] were keen to do that as well. They didn’t know Aylesbury well so I said I would show them around. We were dancing and having a nice time.”

Once at the friend’s house, Ms Canbin commented that she had “never been on a motorbike” before.

Mr Jones then put his crash helmet on Ms Canbin’s head before the pair set off on a ride.

In a statement at an inquest into Mr Jones’ death on Wednesday, Ms Canbin said: “He got on the bike and he wasn’t wearing a crash helmet. I was scared but excited.

“We went out on the bike. It felt fun. I don’t remember how long we were on it but it could have been five to ten minutes.

“Then I can only remember him lying on the floor. I was screaming for help. I didn’t know what had happened but obviously we had crashed.”

Mr Jones is thought to have died instantly after crashing into a parked Skoda - suffering horrific injuries including a fractured spine and skull.

South Central Ambulance Service was called to the scene at just after 4am and Mr Jones was pronounced dead around 20 minutes later.

Collision investigator, Andrew Evans, said the 30mph road where the crash happened is on a new estate that was just being built and did not have a top layer of tarmac on it at the time.

However, there was no evidence that there was any mechanical defect with the motorbike or that Mr Jones had suffered a loss of control before the crash, adding: “He didn’t swerve violently. It is most likely that he ran wide on the bend.”

The impact of the crash pushed the Skoda forward a car length and into another parked car.

Mr Evans added: “He was doing at least the speed limit but it is impossible to say what speed he was going. He wasn’t wearing a crash helmet. Alcohol must have been a factor in the collision.”

A toxicology report found that Mr Jones had 182mg of ethanol in 100ml of blood. The legal drink drive limit is 80mg per 100ml. 

Mr Jones’ mum – who was present at the inquest along with his wife, family and friends – said her son was “very kind” and had “done the gentlemanly thing and gave his helmet to the girl”.

Senior coroner for Bucks, Crispin Butler, concluded that Mr Jones died as a result of a road traffic collision.