Optometrist accused of causing fatal A483 crash denies racing his brother

A locum optometrist accused of causing a dad’s death by dangerous driving told a jury he had not raced his brother during the 150-mile trip home to Manchester from Wales.

Umar Yusaf, 35, a father-of-three who had been working at Aberystwyth, said in evidence during his trial at Mold Crown Court: “I wasn’t racing at any point.”

He told his barrister Sean Minihan he had not planned to drive with his brother Abubakr, 31, “in some sort of convoy,” and said that they were not tracking each other.

He claimed there appeared to be “some sort of contaminant” on the road, which he assumed was mud.

He also insisted: “Every overtake I did was in a safe manner.”

Mr Minihan asked him if he had driven dangerously during the journey, to which he replied “no”.

He was then pressed on whether his driving was careless and again replied “no”.

Mr Minihan added: “Did you intend by the way you drove to encourage your brother Abu to drive dangerously?”

Replying the defendant said: “No. That wouldn’t have been possible because I didn’t know where he was on the journey.”

Umar Yusaf and Abubakr Yusaf, 31, also an optometrist, both of Esmond Road, Manchester, deny causing the death of Rhys Jenkins, 41, a rugby referee, from Deuddwr, Mid Wales, by dangerous driving on the A483 in November 2024.

They also deny causing serious injury to Mr Jenkins’s son Ioan, who was nine, by dangerous driving.

Abubakr Yusaf was also allegedly uninsured.

The defendants were driving BMW and Audi cars between 6pm and 6.30pm on November 16, 2024, when the tragedy occurred south of Welshpool after Abubakr Yusaf allegedly lost control of his BMW at speed, the jury has been told.

During his evidence Umar Yusaf became emotional as he described the aftermath of the crash.

He said the passenger in Mr Jenkins’s car was not conscious.

He told how he put the boy on the grass verge and asked if an onlooker had a blanket.

The defendant said he had then returned to the crashed BMW driven by his brother.

He said Abubakr Yusaf had got out of the car and was sitting in the passenger seat of the Audi.

“He appeared to be very confused. He looked like he didn’t know what was happening,” Umar Yusaf remarked.

He then left the scene with his brother in the Audi and drove to Tesco at Welshpool.

Questioned by his barrister about why he had not called the emergency services, Umar Yusaf said: “I felt I was in auto-pilot mode. I wasn’t thinking straight. I had seen the aftermath of a very serious collision and seen my brother initially after the collision.”

He said he recalled more than one person on the phone, however.

Umar Yusaf also told the court he had tried to drive back to the collision scene.

Cross-examined by prosecutor David Mainstone, Umar Yusaf denied lying to the jury.

Mr Mainstone said: ”You knew your brother was ahead of you, or just ahead of you, when you left Aberystwyth that day. Is that the case?”

Yusaf: ”No, it’s not.”

Mr Mainstone questioned him about why he was “keen to overtake cars” during the journey.

Yusaf replied: ”I wanted to make steady progress.”

The prosecutor alleged he had been speeding to catch up with his brother. The defendant disputed this.

He said he had been making a “normal” journey home from work. Asked his speed at the time the BMW lost control, he saidL ”I don’t know.”

Mr Mainstone suggested to him that, when he drove away from the crash scene, in “a brief moment of madness you thought it was possible you would get away with it?”

Yusaf replied: “No.”

The defendant insisted: ”There was nothing we were trying to hide.”

He said: ”I wasn’t any part of the collision.”

The case continues.