Ex-QPR and Cardiff City player Leon Jeanne, 42, is allowed out on day release from prison for the funeral of his 24-year-old son who was killed in Cardiff car smash

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A former Welsh professional footballer was allowed out on day release from prison today to attend the funeral of his son, who was among three people to die in a horror car crash in Cardiff. 

Ex-QPR and Cardiff City player Leon Jeanne, 42, once dubbed Wales's most promising footballer, was flanked by two probation officers as he mourned son Rafel, 24, at St Peter's Church in Cardiff.

Rafel died in the crash last month along with Darcy Ross and Eve Smith, both 21, while bank worker Sophie Russon, 20, and Shane Loughlin, 32, survived.

Ms Russon and Mr Loughlin were left trapped inside the wrecked car alongside their dead friends for more than 46 hours before they were found by police near the A48 in St Mellon's Cardiff on March 6.

Today, hundreds of mourners dressed in black attended Rafel's funeral, with friends on quad bikes and motorbikes following the hearse alongside the family cars.

Former Welsh footballer Leon Jeanne wore a blue Nike tracksuit as he attended his son's funeral at St Peter's Church in Cardiff

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Rafel Jeanne out of St Peter's Church in Cardiff today 

Rafel (pictured) died in a car crash in Cardiff along with Darcy Ross and Eve Smith, both 21

Jeanne wore a blue Nike tracksuit and was handcuffed to a probation officer as he made his way inside the church.

The former footballer was convicted of dangerous driving in 2019 after being chased by police at 100mph on the same road where his son was found dead. 

He was later sent to prison for breaching a curfew. 

Four years earlier, in 2015, he had been jailed for 30 months for his part in a plot to supply cocaine. 

A rugby ball with 'Cymru' written in flowers adorned Rafel's hearse today alongside tributes reading 'nephew', 'brother' and 'son', while his own name was spelled out in yellow flowers on the roof.

The congregation sung Welsh-language hymns Calon Lan and Ar Hyd Y Nos, with his family collecting donations on behalf of the bereavement charity 2wish.

Jeanne pictured handcuffed to a police officer as he left the church

Hundreds of mourners dressed in black attended Rafel's funeral, with quad bikes and motorbikes following the hearse alongside the family cars

Mourners on quadbikes accompany Rafel's hearse

Ex-QPR and Cardiff City player Leon Jeanne, 42, was convicted of dangerous driving in 2019 after being chased by police at 100mph on the same road his son died on

Rafel Jeanne, 24, had been reported missing after a night out

Father Chris Fuse, who led the service, said there were more than 400 people in the church.

'What impressed me was the vast number of young people who came today - many of them looking rather solemn considering the background of Rafel's death and his friends,' the BBC reported him as saying.

'But they responded to the sense of prayer, to this being a house of God and they responded to a sense of being together and that's what we hoped to emphasise. A community meeting together in faith and friendship.

READ MORE: Survivor of Cardiff car crash releases first statement from hospital bed

 

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'It was very nice to see such a vast turn out - it means the family will have a lot of support which they certainly need.

'He was a very popular sportsman. I think that you can see - in him and in young people - hope for the future and so we did talk a bit about hope and we did have a reading of St Paul speaking about hope.

'His mum also said that's all we can cling to - hope for a good future.' 

It comes as the opening of an inquest heard Rafel, Darcy, and Eve were identified by their mothers following the tragedy.

Three separate hearings were opened into the deaths and said no provisional cause of death has been given.

Coroner David Regan adjourned the inquests for a date to be fixed.

The missing group were reported to Gwent police on the evening of March 4 and the case was raised with neighbouring South Wales police the next day.    

The five had been to the Muffler social club in Maesglas, Newport, and travelled 40 miles to the seaside spot of Trecco Bay in Porthcawl.

They were last reported as back in Cardiff shortly after 2am on Saturday before their car ran off the A48. 

At the time, the mother of survivor Sophie Russon revealed her daughter was 'conscious for some time' in the car following the crash and tried to call out but 'no one was close enough to hear her'. 

The death of Eve Smith was a double tragedy for the family, with her sister Xana having died in a car crash in January 2015 caused by a drunk driver. 

The police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating Gwent Police and South Wales Police's response to the tragedy. 

Darcy Ross and Eve Smith, both 21, died in the crash alongside Rafel  

Shane Loughlin, 32, and Sophie Russon, 20, survived after being trapped in the car for two days  

A photo of the crash site in Cardiff