Defence barrister queries prosecution case in fatal Mid Wales horror crash trial
The defence claims the defendant lost control on mud on the road
A jury considering the case against an optometrist who killed a father in a shocking crash has been told the evidence of dangerous driving “is far from compelling”.
Hugh Barton, defence counsel for Abubakr Yusaf, 31, said at Mold Crown Court that the case arose from a “truly horrific and tragic set of circumstances”.
The prosecution alleges dangerous overtaking and excessive speed from Abubakr Yusaf, saying he drove “like a maniac”.
Yusaf’s BMW crashed into a vehicle being driven by Mid Wales rugby referee Rhys Jenkins on the A483 south of Welshpool in November 2024.
Mr Jenkins was killed in the crash and his nine-year-old son Ioan was injured.
Addressing the jury in his closing speech, Mr Barton said there was “no clear evidence” of Yusaf and his brother Umar, 35, also an optometrist, racing each other from Aberystwyth to Manchester, where they lived.
He added that there was “little of concrete support” for the prosecution allegation of excessive speed.
BMW driver Abubakr Yusaf claimed the car drove into mud on the road before the fatal crash.
The prosecution argued contaminants were a “red herring,” Mr Barton said.
But there was something on the road surface, the barrister insisted.
He claimed it was a tragic “unavoidable” accident caused by contaminants on a rural road close to a farm entrance and the prosecution case was “flawed and misconceived”.
The brothers, both of Esmond Road, Manchester, deny causing the death of Mr Jenkins, 41, from Deuddwr, Powys, by dangerous driving.
They also deny causing serious injury to Mr Jenkins’s son Ioan, by dangerous driving, while Abubakr Yusaf was also allegedly uninsured.
The jury has heard 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 at speed of the high performance BMW.
Defence barrister Sean Minihan, for Umar Yusaf, said: ”There’s no evidence to suggest he has been doing anything dangerous.”
The members of the jury are expected to retire to consider their verdicts tomorrow (Wednesday, June 10).