Driver in crash that killed dad 'was uninsured'

A BMW driver accused of racing his brother “to get home first” from Wales to Manchester before a fatal crash was “uninsured”, a court heard.

- DAVID POWELL

Umar and Abubakr Ben Yusaf are alleged to have been racing before Abubakr’s red BMW car veered into the opposite lane and collided with a Toyota Yaris, driven by devoted dad Rhys Jenkins.

The Toyota was pushed backwards “into a hedge” and “on fire” in the crash on the Belan Straight on the A483 near Welshpool. Mr Jenkins, 41, died and his son, Ioan, nine, was badly injured in the collision.

Both Abubakr Ben Yusaf, 30, and Umar Ben Yusaf, 34, deny causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving in the incident on November 16 last year.

Yesterday, a jury at Mold Crown Court heard both brothers, of Esmond Road, Manchester, deny they had been racing. Abubakr Ben Yusaf said he only found out that he was uninsured to drive the BMW “many months after the accident”.

The 30-year-old also denies causing death whilst uninsured. The judge has directed that his brother be found not guilty of that charge.

Abubakr Ben Yusaf told his barrister, David Martin Sperry, on day six of the trial, that he believed his father had put him on the insurance.

He said it was an “oversight” by his father that he wasn’t. He said: “If I had thought I was not insured I would not have driven it.”