A motorcycle enthusiast was killed while riding home to get a fresh supply of cannabis before returning to the hotel where he worked.

Before leaving the Swallow Falls Hotel near Betws-y-Coed commis chef Carl Evans told colleagues: “It’ll only take me a few minutes”.

A few hours later, however, his body was discovered in a ditch alongside the B5106 road to Llanrwst. He had been thrown off his Suzuki 750cc machine when it collided with a tree.

At an inquest in Ruthin David Pojur, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central, recorded a conclusion of death in a road traffic collision on the 32-year-old father-of-three, of Watling Street, Llanrwst.

In a statement read at the hearing head chef Stephen Standing said he and colleagues at the hotel stayed behind after work on April 28 for a few drinks to celebrate his birthday and most of them intended staying the night at the hotel.

Mr Evans did not usually drink alcohol but Mr Standing saw him having two vodkas.

“He was just happy, not drunk,” he said.

Another colleague, Jason Williams, told police that the group moved to another room when the bar closed at 11.30pm and Mr Evans had a cocktail and a couple of bottles of Budweiser.

Mr Williams said he knew Mr Evans was a regular user of cannabis, which he took to ease his anxiety and depression, and he was seen taking some with another member of staff.

Mr Evans said he was running out of the drug and would go home to get some.

“He said it would only take six minutes to get home,” said Mr Williams, who heard the motorbike accelerating away “very quickly”.

A Mr Geraint Lloyd told police that as he was driving along the B5106 at about 2.30am two pedestrians signalled to him to slow down and he then saw some glass on the road and a motorbike on its side, but he drove on.

A Graham Hughes also saw the machine and a helmet, so stopped to investigate and saw the silhouette of a person in the ditch. He drove back to the 24-hour garage in Betws-y-Coed to raise the alarm and at 5.30am Mr Evans was certified dead at the scene.

The cause of death was given as multiple injuries, and toxicology tests revealed that his blood contained cannabis and 135 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, the legal drink-drive limit being 80.

Collision investigator Gavin Davies found no mechanical defects on the machine and the road was in good condition, so attributed the collision to human error, with the cannabis and alcohol as contributory factors.

Mr Evans’s partner Debbie Ryan told the coroner that police officers had told her that some cannabis was found in his possession so it did not make sense that he was on his way to get some more.

At the time of his death Ms Ryan, the mother of their three children, said: “I promise they will always remember you – I’ll make sure of it.”

Mr Evans’ father David Thomas Evans, said he and his son shared an interest in motorbikes and often worked together on machines.

“Sadly he died doing something he loved,” he said.

His son, who started work at the Swallow Falls Hotel in 2017, was popular in the community and among colleagues.