Man denies racing brother before fatal crash, jury told

A man has denied racing his brother moments before a crash that killed a father-of-two and seriously injured his nine-year-old son.

Rhys Jenkins, from Deuddwr, Powys, died at the scene on the A483 near Welshpool in November 2024. His son, Ioan, was airlifted to hospital in Liverpool with serious injuries.

Abubakr Ben Yusaf, 31, and Umar Ben Yusaf, 35, deny causing death by dangerous driving.

Abubakr Ben Yusaf also denies a charge of causing death while driving uninsured.

Abubakr Ben Yusaf told Mold Crown Court he had been working as a locum optometrist in Cardigan at the time of the crash, and his brother was doing the same job in Aberystwyth, where they shared a flat.

They were both driving back from Aberystwyth to their family home in Manchester when the crash happened.

Abubakr Ben Yusaf said his brother had left before him in a blue Audi A4 and that he had left in a red BMW X3 at about 17:00.

He said the BMW was his father's, and he believed he had been added as an additional driver on the policy.

The defendant said he had driven the car on a number of occasions, including with his father as a passenger.

He said he was not aware of his brother driving close behind him, saying he expected he would have been ahead due to leaving Aberystwyth before him.

He disagreed with a number of witnesses who reported seeing the BMW driving at excessive speed along the A483 in the minutes leading up to the crash.

David Mainstone, prosecuting, cited witness evidence given by Morgan Henry, who told the court Abubakr Ben Yusaf's driving "demonstrated impatience".

"I don't agree I was impatient," the defendant responded, adding that he only passed vehicles "safely".

He also denied he had used "excessive speed" apart from going "one or two miles over the speed limit" when overtaking.

Mainstone also replayed dashcam footage from witness Emma Crabtree, which showed her being passed by another witness, Tyler Lewis, and then afterwards by Abubakr Ben Yusaf.

At the time, Crabtree was travelling at 55mph (88km/h) on the 60mph road.

"I felt it was safe at the time," he said, adding he did not know what speed he was doing, but felt it was only about 5mph faster than Crabtree.

Hugh Barton, defending Abubakr Ben Yusaf, asked him if he accepted that dashcam footage showed him overtaking a car and what he thought of the manoeuvre.

"It doesn't look great... at the time I thought it was safe to do... looking back now I could have left more space... between the vehicle in front... I thought it wasn't anything dangerous to do at the time," he said.

Shortly before the crash, he said his vehicle "lost traction", that there was a "sudden change" in the road conditions and the car started to move from side to side.

He accepted that a small mistake at high speed made it more likely for a vehicle to lose control, but said it was "not a factor" in this case.

The defendant said he thought he may have applied the brakes in an attempt to regain control of the car but was not able to.

After the crash, Abubakr Ben Yusaf said he remembered "waking up" and finding himself facing the other way in the road.

He said he was "panicking... in a state of shock" and that he had an "awareness" he had been in a crash, but "didn't understand what was going on at the time".

Abubakr Ben Yusaf said he left his car and saw a vehicle he "recognised", which was that of his brother, and got into the passenger seat.

"There's gaps in my memory, I feel I was in and out of consciousness," he said, adding he temporarily lost his vision and hearing.

He said his next memory was being in the back of an ambulance.

Asked if he remembered being spoken to in his brother's car at a roadblock in Welshpool by a PCSO who pulled the car over, he said he did not.

During cross-examination in court on Thursday, Mainstone asked why he had walked towards his brother's car and not to the car he had collided with.

"I was disoriented," he said.

He said he had not thought about the occupants of the other car at that moment, but instead wanted to "get to hospital".

He was then asked about being driven to Tesco in his brother's Audi while his brother went inside to use the toilet. He agreed he had remained in the vehicle and was asked about using his phone at that time to download an insurance app called Cover.

"I don't recall," he said.

It was suggested to him that he downloaded the app because he knew he was not insured and wanted to backdate the insurance for that day.

"No," he said, adding he could not offer another explanation.

He was asked why he gave a "no comment" police interview following his arrest, which he said was due to the legal advice he was given by a solicitor.

He said the crash had affected him "massively".

"I wish I could change it... my heart goes out to the family," he said.

Questioned after by his brother's barrister, Sean Minihan, he denied that he was ever "racing" his brother that evening and said that Umar Ben Yusaf's Audi had not overtaken him.

Mainstone also asked Abubakr Ben Yusaf about Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) evidence which showed the gap closing between the two brothers' cars as they approached Newtown, where they were then behind each other.

Abubakr Ben Yusaf said he agreed it was the case "from what the evidence shows" but denied seeing his brother's car behind him.

Mainstone also cited witness evidence from Roy Jennings, who said he was overtaken by the brothers coming off a roundabout in Newtown and that it felt like they were "racing".

"I disagree with his recollection," said Abubakr Ben Yusaf.

"Other vehicles did overtakes, it could have been someone else."

Umar Ben Yusaf is due to give evidence on Friday.

The trial continues.