it ended with "appalling consequences".
Two brothers have been jailed after racing each other on a Welsh road before a crash that killed a father-of-two and left his nine-year-old son with life-changing injuries.
Abubakr Ben Yusaf was sentenced to 14 years in prison after being convicted of causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and causing death while uninsured.
His brother, Umar Ben Yusaf, received a prison sentence of two years and nine months for causing death and serious injury by careless driving.
The fatal collision happened on November 2, 2024, on the A483 between Newtown and Welshpool in Powys.
Father-of-two Rhys Jenkins died at the scene after the BMW X3 driven by Abubakr Ben Yusaf crossed into the opposite carriageway and collided head-on with his Toyota Yaris.
Rhys had been travelling with his nine-year-old son, Ioan, to Cardiff to watch Wales face Australia in what would have been their first rugby match together.
Ioan was airlifted to hospital after suffering two broken arms, a fractured rib and a perforated bowel.
Mold Crown Court heard the brothers, both locum optometrists, were driving from Aberystwyth to Manchester while racing each other home.
Witnesses described the pair tailgating vehicles, flashing headlights and overtaking aggressively along the A483 moments before the fatal crash.
Following the collision, the brothers fled the scene while members of the public helped rescue Ioan from the wreckage.
Around 40 minutes later, Umar Ben Yusaf returned and informed a police community support officer that the driver responsible was with him.
Judge Timothy Petts said the brothers had been “racing each other” and described their driving as unnecessary and reckless.
He told the court they had been “constantly riding your luck at high speed” before it ended with “appalling consequences”.
The judge said Rhys Jenkins “never stood a chance” because the BMW was too close when it lost control.
In a victim impact statement, Rhys’ wife, Caroline Jenkins, said she often wondered how life might have been different if she had hugged her husband and son “a little tighter and a little longer” that morning.
She described the devastating impact of losing her husband and said their son continued to suffer emotionally and physically following the crash.
Ioan said he wished his father was still alive to “watch me grow up and be my dad”.
Rhys’ younger son, Gruff, recalled running from the family home after police informed his mother that his father had died.
Following sentencing, Dyfed-Powys Police said the brothers’ actions showed an “utter disregard” for other road users.
Officers added that while the sentences could never undo the family’s loss, they hoped the outcome would provide some measure of closure after a tragedy that changed their lives forever.
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