EYEWITNESSES who saw two cars “racing” feared an accident could happen moments before a crash which killed two men, a court has heard.

Joshua Ford, 21, of Underhill Crescent, Abergavenny, is on trial at Cardiff Crown Court accused of causing the deaths of his step-father, Lee Fox, 35, and friend Jordan Thomas, 19, in a crash on the B4598 on January 8 last year. 

He has pleaded not guilty to both charges of causing death by dangerous driving.

Doctor Catherine Gilsenan had been for a meal at The Hardwick restaurant, Abergavenny, with her husband David, and friends Charlotte and David Lacquiere, when she heard a “screeching of tyres” as they were chatting in the car park around 10.45pm.

The group of four turned and saw two cars drive off from the layby outside the restaurant, before the fatal crash shortly before 11pm.

Mrs Lacquiere told the court she said to Catherine it was “really dangerous.” She said she was grateful they had not left at the same time as there could have been involved in an accident.

Dr Gilsenan said the cars drove off from the layby “bumper to bumper.”
“I remember thinking that the manner they were driving looked dangerous, as if they were racing,” she said.

Mr Lacquiere described the driving as “silly and dangerous.”

He said the two cars “screamed past” as they were chatting outside the restaurant and that it looked like they were racing.

Doctor Gilsenan, who was heavily pregnant at the time, came across the crash as she left the restaurant with her husband.

She went to provide medical attention to Mr Thomas, who was lying in the road, but realised he was dead when she reached him.

Paramedics arrived and a frantic search ensued for Mr Fox, who had been a passenger in the car of Mr Thomas. He was found down an embankment 35 metres away.

Mr Fox's partner, who arrived at the scene shortly after the accident, was the first to find him and shouted out “he is dead” repeatedly, the court heard.  

The jury were told the crash happened when Mr Thomas lost control on a bend and clipped a Ford Focus travelling in the opposite direction, causing his Toyota to spin and hit a tree.

Mr Thomas and Mr Fox were thrown out of the back window of the car by the force of the collision.

The court heard Ford was close behind Mr Thomas and his Citroen hit the back of the Toyota. He denies racing Mr Thomas and says he could not see the car ahead.

The trial continues.