EXCLUSIVE The woman who went on a first date with a personal trainer... then he put seven police officers in hospital

Daily Mail​

25-05-2025

This is the young mum who found herself on a nightmare first date with a fitness instructor which ended in a police chase and a £250,000 pile-up that left seven police officers in hospital.
Mum of two Courtney Redfern, 27, was on her first date with Mayzar Azarbonyad, 20, when police tried to stop his powerful BMW M5 as he drove her home.
Despite Courtney's protests, Iranian-born Azarbonyad put his foot down and led police on a terrifying high speed pursuit through Gateshead and onto the A1M towards Newcastle.
Supported from above by the force helicopter, four police cars performed a tactical stop manoeuvre, boxing in Azarbonyad's car and bringing it to a halt.
However seconds later an unmarked police Volvo slammed into the cars at 80mph, unaware they were stationary in the carriageway causing a scene described as 'carnage' by witnesses.
Caught in the centre of it was Courtney, who like her date, miraculously escaped without any major injuries.
However a source said: 'There was a great deal of trauma for Courtney and her family as a result of what happened.
'It was a first date and no one could have expected an outcome like that from what should have been an ordinary evening out.
'It's fortunate that no one was killed when looking at the wreckage left behind, it was all anyone who saw it could talk about.
'She's recovering but it was obviously a major shock.'
To Courtney's horror she was arrested alongside Azarbonyad on suspicion of aiding and abetting dangerous driving.
However the young mum from Newcastle was told she would face no further action, although she is still under investigation over whether she was in possession of cannabis at the time of the smash.
The gym-goer, who in the past has run a pub in the Gateshead area, is not believed to have continued to see Azarbonyad.
After a brief hearing at Newcastle Crown Court today Azarbonyad simply gave a nervous laugh when asked whether he was still in touch with his date from the disastrous night of April 9th.
He was due to be sentenced over the smash on the A1 but his case was adjourned after he contested a previous conviction.
Newcastle Crown Court was told he accrued eight penalty points for driving with no licence or insurance on September 16th 2023, but Azarbonyad claimed to have no knowledge of the conviction.
His barrister Penny Hall said he did not remember committing the offences and had not been to court in relation to them.
Ms Hall said: 'It is possible someone else may have given his details when stopped by the police.'
Sentencing was adjourned until June 2 for the court to verify whether or not he committed the offences.
Judge Tim Gittens told the defendant: 'I am granting you bail but I am not giving you any indicationof sentence. All options will be open to the court.
'Given the gravity of this offence that will be up to and including custody.'
Azarbonyad was given bail on the condition he does not drive any vehicle.
The 2.30am crash brought the usually busy stretch of the A1 to a standstill for more than 12 hours, with glass and debris left scattered across all three lanes.
A battered car was left on its side next to the central reservation, while debris from the destroyed police cars was strewn across the width of the carriageway.
Last month Azarbonyad appeared at Newcastle Magistrates' Court where he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop twice and having no licence and no insurance during the crash.
The Iran-born defendant, who came to the UK in around 2020, also admitted a series of other driving offences, including driving without insurance or a licence on April 16th - a week after the collision.
Officers were chasing the dark grey BMW near the Derwent Haugh Road junction of the A1 when the 'absolute carnage' occurred.
One particularly badly damaged police vehicle had its roof torn off and was almost completely crushed, with several of its doors having fallen off.
The smash triggered a large-scale emergency response, with the fire service having to remove the roof from at least one police vehicle to get inside.
Seven officers were taken to hospital with what Northumbria Police described as non-life threatening injuries.
A force spokesman said the two occupants of the BMW were uninjured.
Police initially tried to stop Azarbonyad in the village of Swalwell, Gateshead, as one of his rear lights was defective - but he sped away.
He was later seen approaching the A1 and was pursued before the serious collision near the Denton roundabout, where, in 2010, ex-prisoner and then-fugitive Raoul Moat shot PC David Rathband, leaving him blind.
When questioned, Azarbonyad told officers his driving had been 's***.'
But just two days later, he was back behind the wheel, driving a red Hyundai i10 to work at a gym in Newcastle city centre four times.
This came despite his lack of licence or insurance - and his bail conditions telling him not to drive.
Police saw him on a garage forecourt filling his vehicle up with fuel and arrested Azarbonyad - before he told them about other times he had driven since the crash.
Simon Worthy, prosecuting at the magistrates court hearing, said: 'One would have thought as a matter of common sense that having been involved in something of this seriousness, plastered all over the press, the TV, the newspapers, online, that you would have been a bit more sensible about your activities, having been so lucky to get out of an accident only two days before.
'But no, no, you continue to stick two fingers up.'
On the night of the collision, Azarbonyad had eventually slowed down after being surrounded by police vehicles.
But then, Mr Worthy said, another unmarked police car coming from behind collided with them.
Azarbonyad's lawyer Jack Lovell told the magistrates court his client was a self-employed personal trainer at a gym in Newcastle, did not claim benefits and had no previous convictions.
The defendant knew he should have pulled over immediately, Mr Lovell said, but after getting on the A1 and driving some distance, he did slow down.
He was supported after coming to the UK from Iran aged 15 or 16 - but that stopped when he became an adult and he has lived independently and alone.
Mr Lovell said the defendant had shown genuine remorse. He also openly admitted to driving the Hyundai to work and was 'very foolish' to get back behind the wheel.
When Azarbonyad came to the police's attention on the night of the crash, the solicitor said: 'He tells me at that point it is immediate panic.'
This was because, he explained, his client was aware he had no insurance and that the woman in the car with him had mentioned being in 'possession of cannabis'.
The defendant knew he should have pulled over immediately, Mr Lovell said, but after getting on the A1 and driving some distance, he did slow down.
He put his indicators on and gestured out of the window with his hand to show he was braking, the solicitor continued.
The lawyer said a number of the police vehicles manoeuvred around the BMW and helicopter footage showed he was 'essentially at a stop'.
But then, a following unmarked police Volvo, which had earlier reached speeds of 135mph, collided with them at around 80mph.
Mr Lovell said: 'From there, there is something of a domino effect, it flips over and then the other police vehicles are also involved.'
He continued: 'I am not in any way trying to excuse - he should not have been driving the vehicle, it is his driving that has led to the incident on the A1.
Chairman of the Bench Philip Hutchinson granted Azarbonyad bail, on condition he does not get behind the wheel of any vehicle and that he abides by a 10pm-8am curfew to stay at his address.
A North East Ambulance Service spokesperson said at the time of the crash: 'We received a call at 2.29am on Wednesday, April 9 to reports of a road traffic collision on the A1 northbound near Denton, Newcastle.
'We dispatched five ambulance crews, a specialist paramedic, a duty officer, two crews from our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) and requested support from our colleagues at the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) who attended by road.
'Five patients were transported to hospital for further treatment.'