A former sports centre manager died after suffering catastrophic head injuries after falling from her Harley-Davidson motorcycle, an inquest has heard.

Sally McGrath died in May last year, a fortnight after she fell off her motorcycle. She was 66.

An inquest into her death held in Norwich heard that nobody had witnessed the incident, but immediately afterwards she had texted her husband and a friend to say she had "dropped her bike" on April 22.

Her husband of 41 years, James McGrath, then returned to their home in Great Ryburgh to find her collapsed on their living room floor, initially suspecting she had suffered a stroke.

Emergency services were called and she was airlifted to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where it emerged she had suffered a bleed on her brain.

Sally McGrathSally McGrath (Image: Newsquest)

She was treated at the hospital for two weeks, but was unable to make a full recovery and died on May 5.

The court heard Mrs McGrath had worked as the manager of the Gallows sports centre before retirement and had taken up motorcycle riding at the age of 55.

In 2021, she purchased herself a Harley-Davidson motorbike and made several friends in the biker community.

In a statement, Mr McGrath said: "She was a very careful rider and confident with her bike - she was confident group riding and would be more cautious in poor condition."

Caroline Nichols, a friend of Mrs McGrath, said the pair had bonded after joining the same Harley-Davidson club and that she was known as "ticket lady" as she would sell raffle tickets for the club.

She said her friend was "a bit clumsy" and would occasionally struggle with keeping her bike up when it was stationary, due to it being heavy and her being slight.

Coroner Johanna Thompson concluded that Mrs McGrath, who had a pet labrador called Harley, had died an accidental death.