A TEENAGE cyclist died after riding his bike directly into the path of an oncoming car, an inquest heard.

Lewis Walsh, 16, was not wearing a helmet and may have been distracted by loud music on his headphones when he was involved in the fatal collision on the High Street, Woolton Village, last September.

The inquest was told that the car, a Renault Clio, was being driven nearly 10mph over the speed limit when it hit Lewis on a pedestrian crossing. But the coroner, Martin Fleming, was told this was not a contributing factor to the tragedy as the driver would have had no time to avoid hitting Lewis, of Childwall Priory Road, Childwall, even if the car had been travelling at a lower speed.

The inquest at Liverpool coroners’ court heard that the Renault Clio was being driven by Thomas Dillon, who told the inquest: “I was just driving through the lights, when in a split second there was a bike in front of the car.”

Recording a narrative verdict on the St Francis Xavier College pupil, Mr Fleming said the collision had led to the loss of a “very promising young life.”