Mayhill riot: Man just dropping car off before riot, court hears

Cars were burned out in the Mayhill riot

A man accused of taking part in a city riot was in the area because he was paid to deliver a car, a court heard.

Kye Dennis, 25, of Fforestfach, Swansea, and a friend - who ran a vehicle recovery business with him - took the £250 car to Mayhill, Swansea, hours before violence erupted.

A Vauxhall Astra and a Ford Ka were set alight and rolled down Waun Wen Road during the disorder on 20 May 2021.

Mr Dennis denies a charge of riot at Swansea Crown Court.

A jury heard the violence began after a vigil for teenager Ethan Powell, who had died.

A total of 27 people, aged between 15 and 44, have been charged with offences relating to the Mayhill riot and 26 - apart from Mr Dennis - pleaded guilty to rioting.

He told the court he had nothing to do with the disorder.

The court heard Mr Dennis had gone to Carmarthen with Aaron Phillips, who has already pleaded guilty to riot, to buy an old Vauxhall Astra before driving it back to Swansea on a flatbed lorry.

Twenty-six people have pleaded guilty to offences but Kye Dennis has denied a charge of riot

He said he and Mr Phillips were to be paid £150, split between the two of them, for collection and delivery of the vehicle.

The court previously heard that soon after delivery, rioters Lewis James, Connor Beddows, 22, and Jahanzaib Malik, 21, picked up the car and drove it to Waun Wen Road.

There it was set alight and pushed down the hill.

When asked by barrister Giles Hayes, defending, what he thought was going to happen to the Astra, he said: "I was just doing my job dropping the car off."

Mr Dennis added: "It was nothing to do with me what they'd done after I'd dropped the vehicle off."

The defendant said he remained at the scene as he had to wait for Phillips as the pair were due to return home to the Waunarlwydd area of the city.

Social media footage shows a car rolling down a hill, crashing into a burning vehicle

When Mr Dennis was arrested on 16th June, he said to police: "I didn't do anything - when it got out of hand, I left."

Cross-examining, Robin Rouch QC, for the prosecution, put it to Mr Dennis that he knew exactly what was going to happen to the car.

Kye Dennis replied: "I didn't know what would happen with that car. I was there in my work clothes. I dropped the car off."

The jury was shown footage of the Astra at the scene on Waun Wen Road being sent down the hill.

Mr Dennis was asked why he did not leave and said he did not know. He denied hearing any encouragement to send the car down the hill.

Judge Paul Thomas said it was for the jury to decide whether Mr Dennis "was in the wrong place at the wrong time, unluckily and innocently, or was he in the know and playing a part in it".

The jury are expected to begin their deliberations on Thursday.

The case continues.