A coroner has ruled that a man who killed a children’s author died following a police pursuit when he struck a tree at 145mph after taking cannabis.

Alex Sartain had attacked Cllr James Nash at his home in Upper Enham on August 5, 2020. Following this incident, Mr Sartain returned to his father’s workshop, before leaving on a motorbike and dumping weapons and blood-stained clothing by the side of the road.

He was then found by a police helicopter, with a short pursuit taking place. However, Mr Sartain then “accelerated significantly” and officers lost track of him. Shortly afterwards, while taking a corner on the A343 at Doiley Hill, near Hurstbourne Tarrant, he clipped a car and lost control of his bike, hitting a tree at high speed.

A post-mortem found that he would have died instantly. A verdict of death by road traffic collision was given.

The inquest into the death of Mr Sartain was held at Winchester Coroners’ Court on April 21.

The inquest heard from Mr Sartain’s brother, Scott, who said that his brother had “started to hang around with the wrong crowd from the age of 16”.

He said he had started to use drugs including crack cocaine, and that the deaths of both a close friend and their mother when Alex Sartain was 26 has “a profound impact” on him.

He was later detained under the Mental Health Act in 2019, and Scott said his brother had “come back a different person”.

He said: “Over the past few years, Alex Sartain’s mental health really started to deteriorate and he would often stay in his room talking to himself, talking of people from space and government agencies spying on him.”

His father John told the inquest that Alex Sartain had purchased a motorbike, and intended to use it for track events “if he’d got better”. He kept the bike locked in a shed as Alex Sartain “thought someone was tampering with the motorcycle”.

He had called Alex Sartain’s GP, the Adelaide Medical Centre, in June over his concerns, but “didn’t get a response”.

However, he said his son had shown signs of improvement in the following month, before the incident occurred in August.

He said: “I didn’t think anything like that would happen.”

The inquest was told that following his assault on Cllr Nash on August 5, where Mr Sartain shot him with an improvised shotgun before stamping on his head, he returned to his father’s workshop, where he was described as “hyped up” by his father.

John Sartain said “that there was no hint that anything had happened” when he returned, and that he did not recognise his son at first as he had repainted his motorbike, a Yamaha R-1, in white and was wearing dark motorbike leathers.

Alex Sartain then left the scene and drove towards Thruxton on the A343. Here, he dumped a bag including his blood-stained motorcycle leathers, two improvised firearms and a device used for disabling horses, as well as a large spanner. This bag was recovered the following day by a refuse collector.

Later, at around 16:30, a police helicopter spotted Mr Sartain driving his bike along the A342 towards Weyhill from Faberstown. He was now only wearing shorts, a t-shirt and a motorcycle helmet.

Police intercepted him on Foxcotte Lane heading towards the A343. A short police pursuit took place, with officers saying Mr Sartain was “obviously travelling at quite a high speed”.

An armed response unit was authorised to make tactical contact to knock Mr Sartain from his bike when safe to do so, but he did not slow down at the junction of Mays Down Lane and the A343 as expected, and “accelerated significantly”.

Police lost sight of Mr Sartain, who continued at high speed through Hurstbourne Tarrant. He reached a speed of 145mph as he passed Esselbourne Manor, and as he rounded a corner, clipped a car being driven in the opposite direction.

A forensic scientist later said that Mr Sartain had been travelling on the wrong side of the road, and the glancing blow took off the car’s wingmirror on the driver’s side. He was observed to “wobble” by the driver of the car, before a “large explosion in the bushes”.

Mr Sartain had struck a tree at 145mph, with enough force to embed the front wheel and brake disc of the motorbike in the base of the plant.

A post—mortem found that he had died instantly after suffering “multiple, catastrophic injuries incompatible with life”. He was also found to have THC in his system, a metabolite of cannabis, as well as alcohol at 0.4x the drink drive limit.

Recording a conclusion that Mr Sartain died as a result of a road traffic collision, coroner Jason Pegg said that Mr Sartain’s mental state, and speed on the motorbike, both contributed towards his death.

He said: “After what had happened to James Nash that afternoon, it cannot be known what was going through Alex Sartain’s mind as to how his day would come to an end.

“This was an accident, I am not satisfied that the collision was a deliberate act.”