Partner speaks about devastating impact of biker's death, more than two years after tragedy

The partner of an Easington biker killed in a horror crash with an elderly driver has spoken for the first time of the devastating impact his death had on the family.

Ronnie Johnson, 41, died after a car driven by Margaret Kirkbride, 84, turned right in front of him in Seaside Lane, Easington, in October 2013.

Kirkbride, of Burnside, Peterlee, admitted causing death by careless driving and using her 59-reg Micra with a defective tyre, and was given a curfew and ordered to pay a £60 victim surcharge in May 2014.

Marie Hilder has spoken out for the first time about her partner's death.

Following arrest, she failed a DVLA eye test, and her licence was suspended.

Marie Hilder, the partner of Mr Johnson, was set to appear on BBC Inside Out on Monday night in an episode centred around older drivers.

And she discussed how the death had affected day-to-day life with son Jack, as well as the events of that day.

She said: “Obviously her (Kirkbride’s) eyesight just wasn’t good enough. She should never have been driving. She clearly never saw Ronnie, and wasn’t even aware that she had hit him.

“Nothing is going to replace him. He’s never coming back, and Jack’s never going to have his dad. Going to rugby matches and kick-boxing – all of the things that he does – not having his dad there to support him is really hard.”

She added: “Ronnie had just gone out and bought a new motorbike on that same day (as the incident).

“He had left the house about 15 minutes and the phone rang. It was his sister saying that he had been knocked off his bike.

“They said they were taking him to James Cook Hospital, so we followed through in the car. When we got there, he had already been pronounced dead on arrival.”