THE younger brother of Manchester bomber Salman Abedi insulted a good Samaritan for phoning the police after the siblings crashed their car, temporarily throwing their plans to stockpile chemicals into "disarray", a court has heard.

Hashem Abedi allegedly called pedestrian Eddie Cooper "a pussy" in the moments after the collision in the Fallowfield area of Manchester on March 23 2017, two months before 22-year-old Salman detonated his suicide bomb at Manchester Arena.

Hashem, now also 22, denies 22 counts of murder, including John Atkinson, a 28-year-old support worker from Radcliffe, and 15-year-old Bury schoolgirl Olivia Campbell-Hardy.

He has also denied one offence of attempted murder encompassing the injured survivors, and conspiring with his brother to cause explosions.

Prosecutors say the car, a Toyota Aygo bought two months earlier for £250, was central to the Abedi brothers' alleged plans to source and transport materials needed to make homemade explosives.

Jurors were shown images of the silver vehicle with its front bumper missing after it crashed "at hard impact" while travelling south along Wellington Road, having failed to stop at the junction with Mauldeth Road West, where it struck another car.

Mr Cooper told jurors at the Old Bailey that one of the two men tried to remove the severely damaged front bumper before pulling labels off some cardboard boxes in the back of the car.

The pair then fled in different directions, the court heard.

Mr Cooper told the jury: "I was walking this way and a car came down Wellington Road. They didn't realise there was a stop sign ... they missed the breaking point and collided with another oncoming vehicle.

"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.

"I walked over towards (the Aygo). I went over to see what was going on, I was looking for a response from those people.

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

"The front bumper had come off, you could see all the wiring at the front, they were trying to get that off. One of them I came face to face with.

"I was on the phone to the police. As I walked over (one of them) called me a pussy."

Mr Cooper said it was the younger man who abused him.

Hashem was two years younger than his brother at the time of the collision.

Mr Cooper added: "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 said he did not think about the incident until after the Manchester Arena bombing, when images of Salman circulated on social media.

Mr Cooper said: "I couldn't initially put my finger on why I recognised the face."

The court was told the two men in the vehicle were described as aged about 20, between 5ft 11in and 6ft 1in, of slim build, and of light-brown or Middle Eastern appearance.

One was wearing flip-flops at the time.

Fellow 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."

Ms Weir said the men tried to remove labels from "plain cardboard boxes" in the boot before fleeing.

The car was later sent to scrap.

Duncan Penny QC, prosecuting, previously told jurors how the brothers provided false details to the other driver, an old address that had been a former home of the Abedis, and a false mobile number comprising 12 digits as opposed to the 11 that form a genuine number.

He said the occupants attempted to repair the damage, but were unsuccessful.

Mr Penny told jurors: "They took unkindly to the interest of others in the collision and were abusive to the other driver."

He said witnesses noticed there were some plain cardboard boxes in the Toyota's back seat, and that the car's occupants tried to remove those labels when it was discovered the car could not be repaired.

The trial was adjourned until Monday morning.