Family of woman who lay dead in crash for days confronts mechanic who falsified MOT

Angry scenes erupted outside court after the family of a woman killed in a car crash confronted a garage owner who falsified an MOT just weeks before.

Neil John Lewis, 47, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation at Cardiff Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, and admitted he knew the car was "dangerous".

Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21, and Rafel Jeanne, 24, died when the car given the false MOT crashed into woodland in Cardiff in March 2023. They lay undiscovered for two days. Two others survived.

As Lewis left court, the family of Ross brandished a framed photograph the dead woman, and shouted at him: "Darcy Ross, remember her name."

The court heard the white Volkswagen Tiguan had been involved in an accident in Scotland in 2021 before being salvaged and then sold at auction to Joel Lia, a friend of Rafel Jeanne, who was driving on the night of the fatal crash.

The car failed an MOT carried out on 9 February 2023 with the warning system light on - indicating a fault with the seatbelt, air bag or both and the mileage recorded at about 98,000.

Alexander Lewis, the son of the defendant, carried out various repairs on the car but nothing on the warning system as this was something the garage was not able to do.

Lewis, of Llewellyn Avenue, Cardiff, retested the car on 23 February 2023, who told police in interview when he did so "the seatbelt and warning light were now off and the rear seatbelt was now working" so he "passed it with some advisories" and it was collected by Jeanne.

He sent Lia a text starting with a grin emoji which read: "Car is done. It's 560 [pounds], you have to sort the seatbelt and the airbag light. I've passed the car though."

There were gasps in court as the text was read out from members of Ross's family with Lewis later acknowledging in an interview the car "was dangerous".

Prosecutor Francesca Parry said that the seatbelts on the car "had not been replaced since the first collision in 2021 and were not working properly, and this would have been obvious from a glance".

The five people travelling in the car - Sophie Russon, Smith, Ross, Jeanne and Shane Loughlin, 32 - were last seen at about 02:00 GMT on 4 March 2023 after they went missing on a night out.

The families of the three young women had all reported them missing on the evening of 4 March, with Gwent Police receiving the first missing persons report in relation to the group at about 19:30.

Family and friends of the five made repeated appeals to find the missing group over the course of the weekend, with the mother of one of the girls saying she had been told to stop contacting police for updates.

They were eventually found just after midnight on 6 March in the St Mellons area of Cardiff. The car crashed deep in undergrowth near a roundabout, and they were not found for 46 hours.

Smith, Jeanne, and Ross died while Russon and Loughlin were critically injured and taken to hospital.

Speaking after on behalf of the Ross family, solicitor Andrew Frederick said they were pleased the defendant pleaded guilty and have fought for answers for years.

"From the very beginning we raised concerns about the condition of the vehicle and asked for those concerns to be fully investigated.

"Nothing that has happened today changes the devastating reality that we live with every single day.

"Darcy was deeply loved and is missed beyond words. Every day without her is a reminder of the future which she has been denied and the immeasurable loss our family continues to endure. "

In November 2025, the IOPC said four Gwent Police officers would face gross misconduct hearings.

Family members of those involved have previously expressed their upset and frustration over delays in getting answers about what happened that night.

The case was adjourned by Judge Charlotte Murphy until 19 August for reports to be done and he was released on unconditional bail.