Two brothers racing each other home before a crash that killed a father-of-two and seriously injured his nine-year-old son have been jailed.

Rhys Jenkins died at the scene of the crash near Welshpool, Powys, in November 2024 and his son Ioan was airlifted to hospital when a BMW X3 driven by Abubakr Ben Yusaf drifted sideways and crashed into their Toyota Yaris head on.

Abubakr Ben Yusaf was sentenced to 14 years for causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and causing death while uninsured.

Umar Ben Yusaf, who was behind him on the road in his own vehicle, was sentenced to two years and nine months for causing death and serious injury by careless driving.

Rugby referee Rhys Jenkins had been taking Ioan from their home in Meifod to watch Wales play Australia in Cardiff, their first Wales rugby match together, on the day of the crash.

Mold Crown Court heard the brothers, both locum optometrists, were driving from Aberystwyth to Manchester at the time.

The brothers were racing and trying to get ahead of each other on the A483 between Newtown and Welshpool when witnesses described them “aggressively” tailgating cars and flashing their headlights before overtaking traffic recklessly in the moments before the crash.

They later fled the scene while witnesses helped rescue Ioan from the car.

Within 40 minutes of the crash, Umar Ben Yusaf drove back to the scene and told a police community support officer the person responsible was with him.

Following sentencing, Rhys’ wife Caroline Jenkins, also known as Carrie, said in a statement she often wondered what difference it would have made to her family’s future “if we’d hugged a little tighter and a little longer” when she waved them off that day.

She said, for her son, life “without a dad who was involved in everything you did is a hard adjustment” and it “carried an element of PTSD”.

Carrie said Ioan was emotionally and physically scarred by the crash.

“It’s impossible to convey the full impact Rhys’ death had on us,” she said, and there remains a “massive hole left in our lives by his unnecessary death”.

Ioan, who broke both arms, and suffered a fractured rib and perforated bowel, said he wished his dad was still here to “watch me grow up and be my dad”.

Rhys’ youngest son, Gruff, was six when the crash happened.

In his own victim impact statement, he said he was in bed when police arrived to tell his mum what had happened.

After being told his dad had died, he said: “I ran out of the house. I didn’t know where I was going. It was the worst feeling of my life.”

The court was told Umar Ben Yusaf’s car was not directly involved in the crash, but the “competitive” nature of his driving with Abubakr Ben Yusaf contributed significantly.

Sgt Sara John, from Dyfed-Powys Police’s serious collision investigation unit, said: “The sentences passed today cannot undo the tragic loss suffered by Rhys’s family.”

She added she hoped the outcome “provides them with some closure as they begin to move forward with their lives, which have been changed forever”.

“The actions of Abubakr and Umar Yusaf on that day were catastrophic. Their choice to drive in the manner they did shows their utter disregard towards other road users.”