A NEATH man has described how he crawled out through the rear window of his car after it collided with a taxi, killing the cabbie.

But Nathan Edward Hunt was adamant he was not racing or speeding when he lost control of his Peugeot 106.

Hunt was driving along the eastbound carriageway of the A483 — Fabian Way — when his car hit the central reservation, became airborne and smashed into the taxi of Swansea man Martin Griffiths, who was travelling in the opposite direction.

At Swansea Crown Court the prosecution has alleged the fatality happened after Hunt and the driver of a Citroen Saxo, Michael Paul Davies, had been racing each other at more than 90mph.

Hunt, aged 23, of The Meadows, Cimla, and Davies, aged 21, of Heol y Fran, Morriston, Swansea, deny causing Mr Griffiths's death by dangerous driving.

Yesterday, Hunt told the court that on February 7 last year he arrived at the car park behind Pizza Hut at 9pm, which was a meeting spot for a number of his friends.

He stayed in the car park with friends until about 11.45pm then decided to head home to Neath. Just after the Amazon roundabout he was in the inside lane when he saw a small black car ahead of him. As a result, he pulled into the outside lane and overtook it at 55 to 60mph.

"I then saw an additional set of lights in my rear-view mirror," Hunt told his barrister, David Elias. "I saw that this other car had gained a lot of distance on me. Then the car that was approaching me came into the inside lane and came past on my left."

He then felt the rear wheels of his Peugeot "sliding slightly" but he did not know the cause of this movement.

The next thing he was aware of, he told Mr Elias, was realising the Peugeot was on its roof and climbing out through the rear window.

The allegation of racing was also denied by co-defendant Michael Davies, who told his barrister, John Hipkin, that on the night in question he was driving a friend to Briton Ferry after a visit to Mumbles.

Davies said that after negotiating the Amazon roundabout his Saxo was in the inside lane when headlights appeared behind him and he saw a Peugeot passing him in the outside lane.

"But as the Peugeot overtook me, the back end of it began fish-tailing," he told Mr Hipkin.

Davies said he panicked and pulled onto the M4 sliproad. The case continues.