A MAN from Bury recalled the moment he saw his fiancee mown down and killed by a speeding biker on a dual carriageway in Rome.

Graham Openshaw, aged 33, told an inquest he and clinical psychologist Dr Deborah Woods had been making their way to a campsite after a meal and a few drinks.

The couple, of Raymond Avenue, Walmersley, were on a three-week driving holiday in June, 2011, when she was struck by the 750cc bike travelling at more than 70 mph.

Mr Openshaw said they had reached the central reservation in Porta del Popolo, Flaminio, just after midnight when he heard the sound of the bike.

He said: “It was revving and making a lot of noise.

“I stepped back on to the reservation but Debbie tried to run across. The rider attempted to accelerate round her but he hit her and knocked her sideways”, he told the hearing in Manchester.

Coroner Nigel Meadows said 31-year-old Dr Woods, who had been qualified for 12 months, died almost instantly from multiple injuries.

Mr Openshaw stressed that he and Debbie had not had a lot to drink.

Moped rider Alessandro Alfano, aged 26, has since been given a suspended 16- month prison sentence, and had his driving licence suspended for eight months, after being convicted of vehicular manslaughter. The coroner said: “Whatever the manner of driving it was at least causing death by dangerous or careless driving.

“Had the driver been convicted in our courts he would almost certainly received a substantial sentence.

“He was driving in an inappropriate manner.”

Recording a narrative verdict, Mr Meadows said the doctor had been crossing the road when she was in collision with a motor bike driven at excessive speed.

The bike accelerated in an attempt to drive round her and she sustained immediate fatal injuries.

Mr Openshaw, a former project manager with Manchester Council, said he and Deborah had been together for 12 years and had been planning to marry.