A man who injured seven police officers in a crash on the A1 near Newcastle has been released from prison early after pleading guilty to dangerous driving. Mazyar Azarbonyad, 20, was on a first date when he crashed his BMW while being pursued by police on 9 April.
The collision occurred on the northbound carriageway near junction 75 and the Denton Burn roundabout. Photographs from the scene showed four damaged marked police cars and one unmarked vehicle on its side. Seven officers were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and the road was closed for several hours.
Azarbonyad, a personal trainer from Stanley, County Durham, admitted dangerous driving and failing to stop at Newcastle Magistrates' Court. He also pleaded guilty to driving without insurance and without a licence on four separate occasions after the crash, despite bail conditions prohibiting him from driving. One such journey involved driving a Hyundai i10 to work at a gym in Newcastle city centre.
A woman in her 20s who was arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting dangerous driving has been released with no further action, but remains on police bail for possible drug possession offences.
