A 20-year-old man has admitted to dangerous driving following a serious crash that injured seven police officers and involved five police vehicles and a BMW. The incident occurred in the early hours of April 9 on the A1 in Tyneside.
The driver, Mazyar Azarbonyad, a personal trainer, had been taking a woman home after a first date when the crash took place. He appeared in court to plead guilty to a series of driving offences, including dangerous driving and multiple counts of driving without insurance in the days following the incident.
The court heard that police initially became concerned about the manner in which Azarbonyad was driving in the Whickham area of Gateshead. When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, he failed to comply. His actions led to a high-speed pursuit that ended catastrophically on the A1. Images from the aftermath showed significant damage, with debris scattered across the road and one police car having its roof torn off.
Despite the severity of the crash, all seven injured officers were later discharged from hospital. The road was closed for several hours, causing major traffic disruption.
In a surprising turn, Azarbonyad was found to have driven on four separate occasions between April 11 and 15, even after being granted bail under strict conditions that included not driving. He had also not obtained a driving licence and was uninsured during these incidents. He admitted to using a car to commute to his job at a gym in Newcastle, despite being explicitly prohibited from doing so.
During the hearing, the prosecution expressed disbelief at Azarbonyad’s repeated decisions to drive despite clear legal restrictions and the seriousness of the original offence. The prosecutor remarked that the defendant appeared to show little regard for the rules, continuing to offend even after being released on bail.
In his defence, Azarbonyad’s solicitor acknowledged the recklessness of his client’s behaviour and stated that Azarbonyad had shown remorse for his actions. He described his client as having been “very foolish” to return to driving after the crash and pointed out that Azarbonyad had made full admissions to the court.
The defence also explained that on the night of the crash, Azarbonyad panicked when he realised police were trying to stop him. He knew he was uninsured and had become concerned when the woman he was with mentioned having cannabis. This, the solicitor said, contributed to his decision not to stop for police immediately.
The court was told that Azarbonyad eventually slowed down on the A1, switched on his indicators, and gestured out of the window to signal he was braking. According to helicopter footage presented in court, the BMW had nearly come to a stop when an unmarked police car, which had previously been travelling at speeds up to 135mph, collided with the rear of the BMW at around 80mph.
The force of the impact caused the BMW to flip, triggering a chain-reaction collision that involved four additional police vehicles. The defence made it clear that Azarbonyad was not attempting to excuse his behaviour but acknowledged that his driving had directly contributed to the crash.
Azarbonyad pleaded guilty to the charges and is now awaiting sentencing.
