Motorcyclist pulling a wheelie killed mourner, 17, at lockdown funeral

A motorcyclist who was ‘showing off’ ploughed into and killed a 17-year-old funeral mourner during the coronavirus lockdown.

Robert Varrier pulled a wheelie on his Suzuki off-road bike when he struck dad-of-two Aaron Smith in what a judge described as a ‘highly dangerous, fancy and unnecessary manoeuvre’.

The 29-year-old was jailed for more than five years after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Mr Smith, said to be a ‘good friend’ of Varrier’s, was hit by the underside of the distinctive yellow and black motorcycle and knocked unconscious almost immediately.

The impact with the teenager caused Varrier to lose control of his machine, career across the busy residential street and collide with a stationary motorcyclist, Warren Richards, who suffered a broken pelvis and ribs.

Just seconds earlier Varrier had performed another wheelie while raising his arm aloft to the crowd of up to 500 people who had gathered for a traveller community funeral in Murston, near Sittingbourne in Kent.

Shocking mobile phone footage of the moment Mr Smith was hit as he tried to cross Tonge Road on foot was shown today during Varrier’s sentencing hearing at Maidstone Crown Court.

Many families with children were also present for the funeral of William ‘Billy’ Rye on April 16 and one youngster could be heard shouting out, ‘Someone’s been hit.’

A compilation of other footage showed Varrier as part of a procession of riders on motorcycles and quad bikes revving their engines before setting off at excessive speed and pulling several wheelies.

The court was told Varrier, who sat crying in the dock, had gone to the funeral at the request of Mr Rye’s mother.

He and her son shared a passion for motocross and was said to be ‘riding his bike as a tribute to his memory’.

Mr Smith, whose partner was reportedly pregnant with their third child at the time, suffered serious head injuries and was airlifted to King’s College Hospital in London.

Tests showed no brain activity and his life support was switched off three days later.

Varrier, a waste removal worker from Limehouse Court in Sittingbourne, was himself knocked unconscious after crashing into Mr Richards and suffered a fractured jaw.

Jailing him for a total of five years and three months, Judge David Griffith-Jones QC said his ‘exhibitionist’ riding that day was part of a ‘misguided spectacle’ that created extreme danger and led to ‘utterly tragic’ consequences.

‘Your behaviour was inappropriate, deliberate and brazen. In short, you were showing off,’ he told Varrier.

‘The fact that you were riding as you did, intent on paying some sort of tribute to Billy Rye, was wholly misguided and there is simply no excuse.

‘The risks your riding posed in the circumstances, in particular given the location, the congestion and the number of pedestrians lining the sides of the road, were or certainly should have been obvious to you.

‘This was unnecessary, deliberate riding, involving significant speed and fancy manoeuvres which impaired your ability to control your machine and to react in the event of any sudden need to.

‘Moreover, the manoeuvres were conducted simply to show off to the large number of people, children included, at the scene.’

Varrier was also banned from driving for five years and seven months and must take an extended test to regain his licence.

The court heard a large crowd had gathered in Tonge Road at about 10am for Mr Rye’s funeral which was to be held at nearby Bobbing Crematorium.

Estimates of numbers varied between 100 and 500 people, with Mr Smith standing between parked cars at the side of the road watching the procession.

Witnesses told police the bikers were riding up and down at ‘high speed’ and ‘going very fast’.

Varrier had performed three wheelies before striking Mr Smith with his fourth, near the junction with Portland Avenue at about 10.40am.

Prosecutor Paul Jarvis told the court: ‘Mr Smith, who was standing on the pavement, appeared to run into the road and almost immediately there was impact with the underside of Robert Varrier’s back.

‘Varrier lost control as a result of the impact, swerved across the road and collided with Warren Richards sitting on his own motorcycle.

‘He wasn’t even aware anything had happened until the impact took place. He toppled off his bike and fell to the ground.

‘He got up but then said he couldn’t breathe, slumped to the ground and was screaming in pain and covered in blood.’

Varrier’s bike crashed to the ground where he lay unconscious before getting back to his feet, screaming, ‘I’ve killed him,’ and then limping away, the court heard.

He was arrested at his home later that day but refused to reveal the whereabouts of his Suzuki or how he was injured.

‘What Robert Varrier was doing was inherently dangerous and the reason for the danger is that when pulling a wheelie, the view in front of him was obscured, as was his ability to control his bike,’ said Mr Jarvis.

‘This is somebody who has repeatedly ridden his bike in a way which he accepts was dangerous up and down that road.

‘The moment he raises his arm aloft is a strong indication he was showing off and acting up to the crowd, trying to demonstrate his prowess.

‘It is very difficult in relation to the footage we have to be able to work out why Mr Smith chose to do what he did.

‘He runs, or at least walks quickly at a time when Varrier is bearing down on him on the bike.

‘But with people, including children, present, the risk of someone walking into the road was an obvious one.’

Mr Smith was described in tributes on social media as a ‘polite, handsome, talented, and old-fashioned young fella’. A fundraising page set up to financially help his young family raised £3,735.

No victim impact statements were provided to the court however by either his family or by Mr Richards.

Danny Moore, defending, said Varrier was a hard-working family man, with three children of his own and one stepchild, and was ‘in shock’ immediately after the crash.

He now has a ‘substantially impaired’ memory of events that day due to concussion and has been prescribed medication for post traumatic stress disorder.

Varrier wrote a letter to the court in which the judge said he had ‘expressed considerable and genuine remorse’.

He denied a charge of failing to stop which was dismissed by the judge.

Kent Police had allowed the funeral to go ahead despite social distancing restrictions being in place at the time and a large number of mourners expected to attend.

The force confirmed it had not received notification of the event until the evening before it was due to take place and so decided to maintain a presence.

In a statement following Mr Smith’s death, Kent Police, Chief Inspector Neil Loudon said: ‘Kent Police was afforded very little notice about this large gathering and as such a decision was made to allow the funeral to go ahead during what was no doubt a difficult time for those who had lost a loved one.

‘Officers’ priority was to maintain a presence while offering protection to the wider community around any health concerns they may have had.’

As well as the fatal collision, reports of disruptive and anti-social riding led to the arrests of two other men.

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