A man riding a stolen motorbike died after a high-speed crash near a York shopping centre.

Thomas Lee Hodgson, 26, of Burdyke Avenue, Clifton, was overtaking on the wrong side of the road in Clifton Moor when he collided with an oncoming car at a combined speed in excess of 100mph, an inquest heard. He died at the scene from multiple injuries.

Enver Atila, the driver of the oncoming Audi A3, told York Coroner’s Court that it had been impossible for him to avoid the collision.

Mr Atila said: “He was completely on my side. When I saw him he was so close to me already maybe two or three yards.

“Everything happened in one or two seconds and I just tried to brake. It was too late I couldn’t do anything.”

Mr Hodgson, who was riding a stolen Kawasaki motorcycle, was riding “at speed” towards Rawcliffe on the A1237 outer ring road.

Both vehicles tried to brake but the rear wheel of the motorbike locked and the bike “travelled in a straight line towards the oncoming Audi”, PC David William Foster told the court.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, York Coroner Donald Coverdale said: “Mr Atila was on the correct side of the road. Mr Hodgson was on the wrong side of the road and was driving at a speed which was probably not less than 60mph. It means a combined speed on impact of 100mph, which would have been quite devastating.”

Mr Coverdale said police had been unable to trace a motorbike rider who may have been riding with Mr Hodgson before the collision.

He said: “Police investigations have been hampered by a failure to cooperate by quite a lot of people who have been approached.”

Although Mr Hodgson was found to have alcohol equivalent of drinking about four tots of whiskey, as well as traces of cannabis and diazepam in his blood, Mr Coverdale said he did not believe they played a significant part in his death. Mr Hodgson, also known as “Tosh”, was well-known by police in York as he was given a court order forbidding him to enter certain parts of Clifton for two years.

He was handed the Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction (ASBI) in 2008 following a two-year spell in which he caused havoc to the lives of residents through a series of offences, including common assault, criminal damage, verbal abuse, intimidation, abusing police officers and verbally abusing two disabled residents.

He was sentenced to nine months in prison in 2009 for breaching the ASBI four times.