A young man has admitted to charges of dangerous driving following an incident that resulted in injuries to seven police officers. The events unfolded during the early hours of April 9, when Mazyar Azarbonyad, aged 20, was involved in a high-speed chase with law enforcement. While driving a BMW on the northbound carriageway of the A1 near junction 75 and the Denton Burn roundabout close to Newcastle, Azarbonyad crashed into police vehicles.
The collision left four marked police cars and one unmarked vehicle severely damaged, with the latter found overturned at the scene. As a result, seven officers sustained injuries deemed non-life-threatening and were promptly transported to the hospital. The crash necessitated the closure of the road for several hours, prompting Newcastle airport to advise travelers to schedule extra time for their journeys that day.
During the court proceedings, it emerged that Azarbonyad was returning home with a woman after their first date when the incident occurred. He faced court charges on Thursday following the crash. At Newcastle magistrates court, the Stanley, County Durham resident, who works as a personal trainer, confessed to multiple driving violations, including dangerous driving and failing to stop for the police.
In addition to these charges, he pleaded guilty to driving without insurance and without a valid license on four occasions subsequent to the crash, actions that contravened his bail conditions prohibiting him from driving post-arrest. One of these infractions involved driving a Hyundai i10 to his place of employment in Newcastle city center.
Meanwhile, a woman in her 20s who was present in the vehicle during the crash was initially arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting dangerous driving. However, she has since been released without further action concerning that particular arrest. Nevertheless, she remains on police bail pending further investigation into potential drug possession charges.
