Manchester Arena attack: Brother insulted man after car crash

The Manchester Arena bomber's brother insulted a man for calling police after the siblings crashed their car, a court has heard.

Hashem Abedi, 22, allegedly verbally abused Eddie Cooper following the collision on 23 March 2017, two months before Salman Abedi detonated his bomb.

The siblings then tried to remove labels from cardboard boxes in the boot before fleeing, the Old Bailey heard.

Hashem Abedi denies involvement in the blast.

Twenty-two people were killed when Salman Abedi detonated a homemade bomb on 22 May 2017.

Jurors were shown images of the silver Toyota Aygo, bought two months earlier for £250, with its front bumper missing.

It had crashed "at hard impact" in the Fallowfield area of Manchester, having failed to stop at a junction where it had struck another car.

Mr Cooper told jurors he went to check on a woman who was hit by the car after it went through a stop sign.

"I approached the car travelling east, there was a female there, so I went to see if she was OK. She was alone. She was traumatised.

"No-one from the other car came over to see if she was alright.

"As I walked over, two males were looking at the car, trying to repair it, trying to move it, trying to drive off.

Mr Cooper said he was on the phone to the police when one of the men insulted him.

"I was kind of shocked because I was on the phone reporting the incident. As soon as he said that to me, they both went in different directions," he added.

He told jurors one of the men pulled labels off some cardboard boxes in the back of the car before they fled in different directions.

Another witness, Annya Weir, described the situation as "strange".

She told the court: "You would think they would ask if the lady was OK, but they just stayed in the car - they were sort of wondering what to do."

Duncan Penny QC, prosecuting, said the brothers provided false details to the other driver and "took unkindly to the interest of others in the collision".

Hashem Abedi denies 22 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder encompassing the injured survivors, and conspiring with his brother to cause explosions.

The trial continues.