BMW driving personal trainer 'on first date' admits dangerous driving following A-road horror smash during police chase
A BMW driver who caused a horror crash involving five police cars on a dual carriageway has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.
Personal trainer Mazyar Azarbonyad, 20, was pursued by police on April 9 on the A1 near Gateshead and Newcastle border after concerns about the way he was driving.
The pursuit resulted in a huge pile-up at just before 2.30am, injuring seven police officers. The officers were hospitalised with 'non-life threatening injuries' and have since been discharged.
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The driver and his passenger, a woman who Azarbonyad was reportedly taking home after a first date, were both uninjured.
Appearing at Newcastle Magistrates' Court on Saturday (April 19), Azarbonyad admitted dangerous driving; and failing to stop on the night of the incident. He also pleaded guilty for driving without a license on four separate occasions after he was released on bail.
Azarbonyad, of Sylvia Terrace in Durham, drove to work at a town-centre gym in Newcastle in a Hyundai i10 after his licence was suspended.
A woman in the vehicle was initially arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting dangerous driving but was later released with no further action taken.
Police first flagged the dark grey BMW M Sport in the Whickham area of Gateshead before giving chase along the northbound A1. The major collision occurred at 2.27AM near the Derwent Haugh Road junction.
The area is known for the nearby roundabout, where gunman Raoul Moat shot PC David Rathband in 2010, leaving him blind.
The crash caused parts of the northbound A1 to be shut off for 13 hours as emergency crews attended the scene.
Dramatic images from the crash show car debris scattered across the road and several crushed police vehicles.
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