A CYCLIST was killed by a work colleague driving dangerously after the two “may have been messing about in high jinks”, a jury was told.

Gareth Robbins has admitted causing the death of Paul Heenan by careless driving after they had finished their shift at battery manufacturer Yuasa in Ebbw Vale.

The defendant has gone on trial following his not guilty plea to causing the 40-year-old father-of-two’s death by dangerous driving.

He was killed after being “towed along” by Robbins driving his Peugeot car on the evening of Friday, April 11, 2020, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Mr Heenan, from Abertysswg, Caerphilly, was a “bit of a joker and extremely well-liked”, jurors were told.

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He died after he suffered “catastrophic injuries” outside the factory on the Rassau Industrial Estate.

Eugene Egan, prosecuting, told the jury: “Ladies and gentlemen, this involves an allegation against the defendant of causing death by dangerous driving.

“He has admitted already and pleaded guilty to the offence of causing death by careless driving which is a lesser offence.

“But the prosecution say in fact that his driving on this particular day was dangerous and more than just careless, that’s the difference between the prosecution and the defence.

“Paul Heenan and the defendant both finished their work shift at the Yuasa batteries factory at around 6pm.

“Both the defendant and the deceased were known to each other.”

Robbins left the factory gates in his Peugeot 208 while Mr Heenan was riding his bicycle.

Mr Egan said: “That car was in excellent mechanical condition and the defendant was sober.

“The weather conditions were good and the road surfaces were in good order.

“The deceased was on his pedal cycle but he was not wearing a safety helmet.”

Mr Heenan was cycling in “a bit of an S-shape” away from the factory car park towards the main road in “a bit of harmless fun”.

Mr Egan added: “But that snaking movement by the deceased happened well before the actual collision site for the fatal incident.

“At some point, the defendant drove very close to the deceased who was cycling along normally in the roadway with the kerb to his left.

“The front passenger window on the Peugeot was open and the deceased appears to have grabbed on to the B-pillar of the defendant’s car in the area where the front passenger seat belt would be attached and we know this because the deceased left his DNA there from scientific tests carried out.

“The cyclist had his left hand on the handlebar and his right hand out and he was holding on to the pillar of the vehicle where the front passenger seat belt area is.

“He was, in effect, being towed along.

“The defendant then accelerated and he knew that the deceased was clinging on to the side of his car and defendant reached a speed of between 24 and 29mph.

“That is a very dangerous thing for a driver to do.”

Mr Egan said he was “unable to maintain his balance on the bike and fell suffering injuries which were to be catastrophic”.

When he was interviewed by the police, Robbins said people had been laughing at Mr Heenan initially as he swerved around on his bike.

The defendant told detectives he and other motorists had beeped their horns at him in what was “just messing about”.

Mr Egan said: “Ladies and gentlemen, ultimately this may have been a situation where there was high jinks going on where the car pulled up dangerously alongside the cyclist so that he was literally within touching distance of the car.

“They then had a chat and the driver towed the cyclist along for a bit as the car and bike sped up in tandem.

“What the prosecution say is that it was an inherently dangerous thing to do.”

Robbins, 33, of Clos Gwaith Dur, Ebbw Vale, denies causing death by dangerous driving.

Proceeding.