TV chef was drinking before fatal smash

1:06pm Thursday 21st August 2008

A TOP television chef died after he crashed his motorbike while not wearing a helmet, an inquest was told.

Shaun Gilmore, pictured, was also three times over the drink-drive limit when he crashed near his South Wonston home.

He had drunk at least two bottles of beer and a shot of schnapps before setting off on his commute home to South Wonston, from London.

The 38-year-old died just 100 yards from his home, after suffering serious head and chest injuries when he lost control of his gold Honda motorbike in the early hours of March 6.

Winchester coroner's court heard how the executive chef had enjoyed a shot of Czech plumschnapps and two bottles of beer with his sous chef Kris Kirkham, after work at the National Dining Rooms and National Café in Trafalgar Square, London.

Mr Gilmore then caught his train back from Waterloo to Winchester, arriving at 12.45am.

He then got on his Honda ST1100A for the final part of his journey back to his home in Waverley Drive, where he lived with his wife Susan, their baby son Harry and two stepchildren.

Evidence from Antony Feltham- King, of Andover Road, who said he heard a thud at 1am and found a tax disc and some pieces of motorbike in a nearby drive, suggested that Mr Gilmore had crashed more than once.

But it was at about 1.15am that the celebrity chef, who had appeared on the BBC, was killed after losing control in Downs Road South, at theWest Hill Road junction.

A post-mortem also revealed traces of amphetamine.

Assistant deputy coroner for central Hampshire, Christopher Wilkinson, said: "Taking into account the amount of alcohol in his bloodstream, it was inevitable that he would have been inhibited in the way he would have been riding the motorcycle."

He added that the items in Andover Road suggested Mr Gilmore had crashed soon before the fatal accident in SouthWonston and recorded a verdict of accidental death.

After the inquest Mrs Gilmore said: "He was always very good with all three of the children. He was very well liked and we miss him every day."