A PENSIONER nicknamed Evel Knievel because of the way he tore around on his motorised scooter died when a manoeuvre went wrong as he tried to get into his house.
Well-known eccentric Ernest Hewitt had been steering his Strider Maxi scooter - the fastest on the market with a top speed of 8mph - through his garden gate when he turned right and lost balance.
The 79-year-old - also known as 'Skeletor' because
of his skinny six stone frame - ended up lying in the road outside his home in Greno View, Hoyland, Barnsley, alongside his toppled machine.
A Sheffield inquest heard that, in the weeks before the accident, the retired cinema projectionist had repeatedly rammed the kerb outside his house to get through the gate, damaging the scooter's steering.
PC Adrian Burgoyne, from the collision investigation unit at the South Yorkshire Road Policing Group, said the damage would have affected Mr Hewitt's ability to straighten the wheel after turning it to full lock.
"That would have been a manoeuvre he would have had to perform when trying to get through the gate," he said.
"I believe the damage was caused by a repeated series of blows. I think this would have seriously affected the stability of the scooter and it would have been difficult for him to control."
The court heard statements from several locals who said they had seen Mr Hewitt driving his scooter erratically.
Simon Jones, a worker at nearby Tesco, said the pensioner would often wreak havoc in the store.
"It was not unusual for him to crash into the displays and knock things all over the floor," he said. "Members of staff had to follow him around and pick things up after him."
Mr Hewitt's cousin Margaret Beaver told the court she had concerns about the size and weight of the scooter, but added: "He was adamant he wanted such a powerful machine."
Pathologist Dr Susan Morgan said the cause of death was a head injury, received when Mr Hewitt fell from the scooter and knocked himself unconscious in the street.
He was taken to Barnsley Hospital following the incident on April 30 but died the following day.
Recording a narrative verdict coroner Christopher Dorries said: "The scooter overturned as Mr Hewitt swung right to line up with his garden gate. The momentum of the scooter on a downhill slope carried it over."
After the hearing Mrs Beaver told The Star her cousin was a well-known eccentric in the Hoyland and Jump area, known as either Skeletor or Evel Knievel.
"I never realised the problems he was having getting the scooter up the kerb, but that was his way - he had to have the biggest, best and fastest," she said.
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