Sentencing for A1 crash motorist delayed due to driving record dispute
Mazyar Azarbonyad, 20, who was on a first date at the time, admitted dangerous driving following the crash on the A1 west of Newcastle on April 9.
With the woman in the passenger seat of a powerful BMW, he first evaded police in the Swalwell area of Gateshead then sped on to the A1 where the major collision happened near the Denton roundabout.
Five police vehicles were badly damaged, seven officers were taken to hospital and the road was closed for hours.
He was due to be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court for that offence, two counts of failing to stop, driving without a licence and insurance.
After he was released on police bail following the A1 incident, he continued to drive from Stanley, County Durham, to a Newcastle city centre gym where he worked and police spotted him filling up his car on a garage forecourt.
Azarbonyad faced further offences of driving without insurance or a licence on April 16, seven days after the crash.
But a dispute over whether he had a clean driving record or, as the prosecution stated, eight points following two driving offences, meant sentencing could not go ahead while further inquiries took place.
He will now be sentenced on June 2.
Judge Tim Gittins told him he could have conditional bail but that all sentencing options remained open 'up to and including custody'.
The Iran-born defendant, from Sylvia Terrace, Stanley, County Durham, had previously been bailed by magistrates and he has abided by the conditions, the judge was told.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
30 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Decapitated body of missing escort is found and her security guard client is arrested – as he gives harrowing confession
Denisa Maria Adas told her friend 'I'm afraid I'm going to be killed' before her disappearance HORROR MURDER Decapitated body of missing escort is found and her security guard client is arrested – as he gives harrowing confession A WOMAN who vanished in Italy last month has been found brutally decapitated - after weeks of national concern over her disappearance. The body of Denisa Maria Adas Paun, 30, was discovered on Wednesday in a suitcase among brambles, her head found separately miles away in a field. 5 Denisa Maria Adas Paun, 30, was found brutally murdered Credit: Jam Press 5 Her alleged killer decapitated her and callously disposed of her remains Credit: Jam Press 5 Vasile Frumuzache (in a blue shirt) was arrested for the murder Credit: Jam Press Adas was a Romanian national who lived in Italy's capital of Rome and worked as an escort, according to the prosecutor's office. She disappeared on May 15 from the Tuscan town of Prato, where she is said to have travelled for work. Vasile Frumuzache, a Romanian-born 32-year-old security guard, reportedly confessed to the horrific crime. Frumuzache was charged with murder and concealment of a corpse. Read more world news PHEOBE TWIST Missing teen's housemates charged with murder 21 days after she vanished The married father-of-two claimed to police that Adas threatened to tell his wife of their relationship unless he gave her €10,000 (£8,417). 'That's why I killed her,' he allegedly told police. Frumuzache strangled her, then used a knife to decapitate her before placing the body in a rubbish bag and stuffing it into a suitcase, Italian news outlet Corriere Fiorentino reports. The next day, he reportedly set fire to her head in a garden using gasoline. The 30-year-old gave her mother a call on May 15 during which she "seemed calm". She told her mother: "Hi Mum, I'm fine, see you at home on Saturday." 5 Adas 'seemed calm' while on call with her mum - hours before her murder Credit: Jam Press Body found in search for missing woman who vanished 15 years ago – as suspect, 39, arrested over 'murder' But shortly after the call, both of Adas' phones were switched off - a detail her family called deeply suspicious. Her mum soon went to police in Rome to report her missing. At first, investigators suspected she had left voluntarily - her phones, purse, car keys, two suitcases and the blanket she never travelled without were all missing. Her loved ones, however, were convinced something sinister had happened. A few days before her disappearance, Adas told a friend: 'I'm afraid I'm going to be killed,' local media report. Detectives say Frumuzache entered the property where Adas was staying at 10.50pm on May 15, carrying a holdall. Shortly after 1am, he was seen leaving with the suitcase that she had brought with her from her home in Rome. It is believed her body was inside the suitcase. Detectives traced his journey to the spot where the body was found using GPS data from a tracker fitted to his car for insurance purposes. Adas' body was discovered near an abandoned farmhouse in a rural part of Montecatini Terme, near Florence - around a half-hour drive from Prato. Her head was only found after Frumuzache disclosed its location during police questioning. Adas is believed to have been suffocated. A post-mortem is expected to confirm the exact cause of death.
South Wales Guardian
4 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Pope meets child protection advisory board amid call for zero tolerance on abuse
There are also demands from survivors that he enacts a true policy of zero tolerance for abuse across the Catholic Church. The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which is made up of religious and lay experts in fighting abuse as well as survivors, called the hour-ong audience a 'significant moment of reflection, dialogue, and renewal of the church's unwavering commitment to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable people'. The group said it updated history's first American pope on its activities, including an initiative to help church communities in poorer parts of the world prevent abuse and care for victims. The Vatican did not provide the text of Leo's remarks or make the audio of the audience available to reporters. Pope Francis created the commission early on in his pontificate to advise the church on best practices and placed a trusted official, Boston's then-archbishop, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, in charge. But as the abuse scandal spread globally during Francis' 12-year pontificate, the commission lost its influence its crowning recommendation — the creation of a tribunal to judge bishops who covered up for predator priests — went nowhere. After many years of reform and new members, it has become a place where victims can go to be heard and bishops can get advice on crafting guidelines to fight abuse. Cardinal O'Malley turned 80 last year and retired as archbishop of Boston, but he remains president of the commission and headed the delegation meeting with Leo in the Apostolic Palace. It has often fallen to Cardinal O'Malley to speak out on cases that have arrived at the Vatican, including one that remains on Leo's desk: The fate of the ex-Jesuit artist, the Rev Marko Rupnik, who has been accused by two dozen women of sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse over decades. After coming under criticism that a fellow Jesuit had apparently received preferential treatment, Francis in 2023 ordered the Vatican to waive the statute of limitations on the case and prosecute him canonically. But as recently as March, the Vatican still had not found judges to open the trial. Meanwhile, the victims are still waiting for justice and Rev Rupnik continues to minister, with his supporters defending him and denouncing a 'media lynching' campaign against him. Leo, the Chicago-born former Cardinal Robert Prevost, has been credited by victims of helping to dismantle an abusive Catholic movement in Peru, where he served as bishop for many years. But other survivors have asked him to account for other cases while he was a superior in the Augustinian religious order, bishop in Peru and head of the Vatican's bishops' office. The main US survivor group, Snap, has also called for Leo to adopt the US policy calling for any priest who has been credibly accused of abuse to be permanently removed from ministry.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The 12 countries on Trump's travel ban list
President Donald Trump targeted 12 countries with a new travel ban, with seven more countries facing restricted travel. Nationals of Afghanistan, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen will be barred from entering the United States under the new order, which goes into effect on June 9. Citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela will be partially restricted from traveling, removing access to all immigrant visas and several non-immigrant travel options. Trump also issued a warning that Egypt could soon join the no-fly list in the wake of the Colorado terror attack in which an Egyptian national who overstayed his visa allegedly set fire to pro-Israel demonstrators. 'We don't want 'em,' Trump said bluntly in a video released shortly after the ban was announced. 'Very simply, we cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen.' The White House offered a range of reasons of why these countries were targeted: saying these countries have lax screening of travelers, have a 'significant terrorist presence,' and their government wasn't cooperative enough in accepting deported citizens or residents who were prone to overstaying their visas in the United States. In his first term, Trump tried to bar travelers from seven mostly Muslim-majority countries. Five of those countries are on the new list: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Exceptions will be made for lawful permanent residents, existing visa holders, certain visa categories and individuals whose entry is deemed to serve U.S. national interests. The order is expected to draw legal challenges. Only two of the 19 countries are on the US government's State Sponsors of Terrorism list - Iran, which has a full ban, and Cuba, which has partial travel restrictions. During his first term in office, Trump announced a ban on travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. Former President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded Trump, repealed the ban in 2021, calling it 'a stain on our national conscience.' But Trump touted the successes of his initial 2017 travel bans in his proclamation. 'During my first Administration, I restricted the entry of foreign nationals into the United States, which successfully prevented national security threats from reaching our borders and which the Supreme Court upheld,' the president wrote. 'It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes. 'The United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those aliens approved for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans or our national interests. 'More importantly, the United States must identify such aliens before their admission or entry into the United States. 'The United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists or other threats to our national security.' Trump said the list is 'subject to revision' if nations work toward improving the vetting system of their nationals. Similarly, other nations can be added to the list if Trump later believes they pose a risk to national security. But as it stands, the nations included on the list have disappointed Trump in various ways, either by having a high rate of nationals who overstay their visas or by limiting the United States' access to security data. The primary concern for Iranian nationals is that the government 'is a state sponsor of terrorism.' In that instance, Trump argued 'Iran regularly fails to cooperate with the United States Government in identifying security risks, is the source of significant terrorism around the world, and has historically failed to accept back its removable nationals.' Similarly, the inclusion of Somalia comes after 'The United States Government identified Somalia as a terrorist safe haven. 'Terrorists use regions of Somalia as safe havens from which they plan, facilitate, and conduct their operations.' Haitian nationals, Trump argued, have a higher likelihood of trying to overstay their visas. 'Additionally, hundreds of thousands of illegal Haitian aliens flooded into the United States during the Biden Administration,' the president said. 'This influx harms American communities by creating acute risks of increased overstay rates, establishment of criminal networks, and other national security threats.' During the run-up to the election, thousands of Haitian migrants who had moved to Springfield, Ohio drew the ire of President Trump, who claimed that some of them were even eating pets. Eritrea, for example, has been included on the list because 'the United States questions the competence of the central authority for issuance of passports or civil documents in Eritrea.' Trump wrote: 'Criminal records are not available to the United States for Eritrean nationals. Eritrea has historically refused to accept back its removable nationals.' Trump added that 'many of these countries have also taken advantage of the United States in their exploitation of our visa system and their historic failure to accept back their removable nationals.' Trump said the decision was made in collaboration with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe. For the seven nations who have had their access to the United States severely restricted, Trump has clarified that authorities will no longer accept any immigrant visa applications. Additionally, a host of nonimmigrant visa options will be revoked, and those that remain will have 'reduced validity... to the extent permitted by law.' Looking ahead to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Trump has already added a clause in his proclamation which states: 'Any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event' will be exempt.
