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While I was at my late wife's gravestone recently, ...I suddenly noticed a memorial on a marble bench behind hers, ...it reads.... STEVE WILD - STAR BIKER....followed by the date and family message. ......I reckon they're both in good company eh?

from today's Sentinel..

THE family of a motorcyclist killed in a road accident have called for action after discovering a blood test that showed he was drink-driving may have been mixed up with someone else's.

Steven Wild, aged 40, died after hitting a van head-on as he tried to avoid a braking car on the A53 in Stockton Brook.

The results of his post-mortem examination showed Mr Wild was more than twice the drink drive limit, but his family refused to believe he would have drunk so much.

After battling to clear his name, they have received a letter from North Staffordshire coroner Ian Smith, which admits his blood test could have been wrong.

Mr Wild's sister Susan Hulme, of Baddeley Green, said: "We want to clear Steven's name. Losing him was devastating, but added to that was this mix-up which left his memory tarnished."

Mr Wild, pictured below, had called in at The Sportsman pub to meet a friend before returning to his home in Washerwall Lane, Werrington, when the accident happened on April 26, 2008. Witnesses said he had just one drink.

Now, in a letter to the family Mr Smith has revealed three other post mortems took place at the Stoke-on-Trent City Council-run mortuary in Hartshill on the same day as Mr Wild's, and blood samples taken in each case.

The samples were then taken to the pathology lab at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire for analysis, and the results sent to the coroner.

Mr Wild's blood alcohol level came back as 167.3mg, the legal driving limit is 80mg, but in another case the result was 53.8mg.

Mr Smith said the circumstances of this other person's death meant a much higher alcohol reading had been expected.

The family believes the two samples were mixed up, and that Mr Wild was not over the limit. In his letter Mr Smith accepts this could have been the case.

He said: "Having looked at the background circumstances and given the samples no longer exist, only a fool would deny that human error may have crept in."

Mrs Hulme, aged 44, said: "When we got the letter we felt a mixture of relief and anger.

"We knew Steven would never have drunk that much.

"We think the procedures at the mortuary and the pathology lab should be looked at."

Martyn Brindley, head of regulatory services at the city council, said: "There was no evidence at the time to suggest that an error occurred. While we sympathise with his family over his death, our procedures are robust and thorough."

Mr Smith declined to comment and nobody from the hospital was available for comment.