AN ELDERLY couple were killed after a 'dangerous' driver smashed into their van at speed on a roundabout, a court heard.

Tahid Abdul's driving was described as 'fast and dangerous' before the collision and a court heard that a 'cursory look' would have allowed him to see his alleged victims before it was too late.

Abdul denies two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

The 42-year-old of Wingate Close, Oxford, has already admitted two lesser counts of causing death by careless driving of the same two victims.

Prosecutors claim that due to his dangerous driving Abdul caused the deaths of Kenneth, 77, and Gillian, 80, Jarvis, from Bicester.

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His trial got under way at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

Outlining the case to the jury prosecutor Matthew Walsh said the fatal crash took place at the A41 and Vendee Drive junction, near Bicester.

The collision involved a Renault Kangoo van driven by Mr Jarvis and a BMW X5 driven by Abdul and occurred at about 8.15pm on Wednesday June 12 last year.

Mr Jarvis and his passenger Mrs Jarvis were passing on the roundabout when Abdul approached the junction.

Mr Walsh told jurors that the collision happened soon after when Abdul's BMW hit the van 'at speed.'

He said the van was sent 'up into the air' before coming to a rest on its roof on the far side of the roundabout.

Both Mr and Mrs Jarvis died at the scene from their injuries while Abdul and his passenger were unharmed.

Jurors were also told that on the night of the crash the weather was poor with 'heavy, torrential rain.'

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Mr Walsh said: "The prosecution's case is the defendant's driving was anything but measured or cautious for those conditions."

He said with a 'cursory look he should have seen their van which was already passing quite properly around the roundabout.'

Mr Walsh added: "There is no dispute, no argument in this case that they died because of the way that this defendant was driving.

"That is accepted by him, he accepts that they died in a collision caused by him.

"The prosecution's case [...] is that the crash occurred because he was driving dangerously."

Abdul denies the two counts and the trial continues.