He is the new young star of English cricket, grabbing 12 wickets on debut and becoming the first number eight batsman to smash a century in more than a decade.
Gus Atkinson has enjoyed the perfect year on the pitch – and by taking 33 wickets in only five games, he has smashed the record for most wickets in a maiden Test summer — 29, by Fred Trueman back in 1952.
But today it emerged his extraordinary sporting breakthrough came as a secret transatlantic court battle raged over the dangerous driving death of his mother, 55, in 2020.
As the Surrey fast bowler demolished the West Indies at Edgbaston – 120 miles away at Southwark Crown Court in London a former EastEnders star and bit-part actor was handed an eight-and-a-half year jail term for killing Caroline Atkinson with his luxury SUV.
A Daily Telegraph investigation has revealed how Youssef Berouain was able to flee the country and that Scotland Yard only realised he was gone seven months later when they arrived at his London home to charge him with various offences.
Mother-of-three Mrs Atkinson was in an Uber on the evening of December 10 2020 after a pre-Christmas night out when it was smashed into by a speeding Audi Q7 driven by Berouain.
The jobbing actor, who also starred in BBC daytime drama Doctors and 9/11 mini series The Looming Tower, was going at least 60mph in a 30mph zone through Fulham.
England’s Gus Atkinson celebrates after taking the wicket of Sri Lanka’s Dhananjaya de Silva over the weekend – today it emerged an actor has been jailed over the death of his mother
Atkinson’s mother Caroline, who enormously encouraged the young player, died in a car crash in 2020
Youssef Berouain, left in his mugshot and right as a terrorist in The Looming Tower, smelled of cannabis and was going 60mph in a 30mph zone
Police called to the scene described he smelled of cannabis but he refused to give a roadside sample while Mrs Atkinson succumbed to her injuries two hours later. The driver of the Uber was also injured.
He was bailed after a night at Hammersmith Police Station where he again refused to give blood and urine samples and maintained he was doing 20 to 30mph and could not miss the oncoming Uber due to the wet conditions.
It then emerged he had waltzed out of Britain through Heathrow.
First he flew to Dubai to cover his tracks before jetting into the United States.
He was only found in Los Angeles and arrested after US police discovered he applied for a driving licence in California and gave away his address.
But the dangerous driver refused to return to Britain, sparking lengthy and costly court hearings in London and Los Angeles before his extradition was finally confirmed in 2024 – more than three years after he caused Caroline Atkinson’s death.
Berouain appeared at Southwark Crown Court and pleaded guilty to two charges of causing death by dangerous driving and careless driving on June 14.
On July 26, as Atkinson tore through the West Indies in Birmingham, Berouain was jailed for eight and a half years.
Berouain appeared in eight episodes of EastEnders playing a teenage gang member called Tayo (circled)
Berouain appears to have been an on-off actor for the past decade.
He appeared in eight episodes of EastEnders playing a teenage gang member called Tayo just over ten years ago. He has also appeared in short films and TV series, including playing a terrorist in The Looming Tower – all about 9/11.
He also appeared in a 2022 short film on BBC iPlayer, released while he was on the run.
The Atkinson family declined to comment on the Telegraph story, and Gus has not been keen to speak about his mother’s death – only touching on it briefly in recent interviews.
But his mother Caroline enormously encouraged him as a young player – making it doubly tragic that she has not been able to see what he has achieved in his career so far.
Speaking to the Mail recently Gus said: ‘My mum pushed me forward almost behind my back.
‘She’d get in touch with Surrey and make sure I was still in the loop when perhaps I might have been falling behind the others.
‘Once she passed away my career could have gone one or two ways and I wanted to take it in the direction she would have wanted. And that I wanted as well. So to be in this position is very special.’
Atkinson said, after her death, his career ‘could have gone one or two ways and I wanted to take it in the direction she would have wanted’
Gus Atkinson’s father Ed celebrates his son’s extraordinary century – but tragically his wife was not there to see their son’s achievement at Lord’s
His father Ed’s celebrations when his son scored a century against Sri Lanka in the last test went viral.
The proud dad recently told Telegraph Sport that the sport had helped Gus through his darkest times.
Mr Atkinson urged his son to push forward and fulfill his potential.
He said: ‘I basically emphasised the importance of carrying on.
I said: “Gussy, you’ve got to go and prove what Mum set out – that you can do it”.
‘Within days, Gus was back in the winter nets at the Oval. “I want to bowl for England, I want to take five and I want to hold the ball up and say: ‘Thanks, Mum,’” he told his dad.
