JURORS have retired to reach a verdict in the trial of a Gwent driver accused of killing another man in a crash.

Shane White, 54, is on trial at Cardiff Crown Court, where he has pleaded not guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving.

He was charged following a crash outside Abergavenny on March 10, 2021, in which White, in a Fiat Punto, struck van driver Mark Rowley, who had been changing a tyre.

Mr Rowley, 31, from Pontypool, died in hospital a week later from his injuries.

This morning, Monday, Judge Shomon Khan summed up the case for the jury of nine men and three women.

He said there was “no prohibition on overtaking” and “no chevrons” on the stretch of the B4269, also known locally as Gypsy Lane, where the crash took place at around 5.30pm.

Judge Khan recounted evidence from witnesses including other drivers who had seen the crash, and police officers including expert crash investigators.

Eyewitnesses for the prosecution, who had been driving in the opposite direction, recalled the Punto coming “almost out of nowhere” and overtaking Mr Rowley’s van.

South Wales Argus: Mark Rowley.Mark Rowley. (Image: Newsquest)

A crash expert for the prosecution had “eliminated” the road’s condition as contributing to the collision, the judge said.

The crash happened on a stretch of the road with a 60mph speed limit, but the prosecution expert “cannot say what speed the defendant was travelling at when he came around the bend”.

Earlier in the trial, defendant White, of Coopers Way, Llanfoist, decided not to give evidence.

His defence instead “relies” on a police station interview, in which he “recalls knowing he wasn’t going to make it” when he saw the van.

White told police he had “done everything in my power to avoid a head-on collision” with Mr Rowley, Judge Khan reminded the jury.

A crash expert for the defence said White had to “either go right or brake” when he saw Mr Rowley’s van.

The defendant had borrowed the Punto and been on his way to pick up a KFC takeaway for his children when he struck him, jurors were told.

Mr Rowley, meanwhile, had been leaning into his Ford Transit to get a jack when he was struck. The van’s hazard lights had been flashing, witnesses told the court.

Judge Khan reminded the jury of their duty to “look at the evidence with a clear head”.

The trial continues.