Latest news with #Iran-born
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Scottish Sun
Driver on first date jailed after he put SEVEN cops in hospital in huge pile-up while trying to escape officers
A DRIVER on a first date has been jailed after he put seven cops in hospital in a huge pile-up while trying to flee officers. Mazyar Azarbonyad was taking Courtney Redfern home in his powerful BMW on the A41 in Newcastle when police gave chase. Advertisement 8 Mazyar Azarbonyad, 20, left seven police officers in hospital Credit: PA 8 He was on a date with Courtney Redfern at the time Credit: Instagram 8 Damaged police cars and an unmarked black car on its side following the A1 collision Credit: PA 8 The 20-year-old smashed into five cop cars - leaving them destroyed - and wrecked his own car in the horror crash. Shocking photos showed the aftermath of the collision after one of the police cars had its roof torn off. Seven officers were taken to hospital for non-life threatening injuries, while Azarbonyad and his date were unharmed. The Iran-born personal trainer, who came to the UK in around 2020, has now been jailed for 14 months. Advertisement He admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop twice and having no licence and no insurance during the crash. Azarbonyad also pleaded guilty to a string of other offences, including driving without insurance or a licence on several occasions after the crash. Newcastle Crown Court heard the horror unfolded on April 9 at around 2.30am. Police had initially tried to stop Azarbonyad in Gateshead as one of his rear lights was defective but he sped off. Advertisement A high-speed chase ensued as the BMW driver made his way to the A1 surrounded by cop cars. He then "rapidly decelerated from 119mph" to stop in the middle of the carriageway - forcing the police to emergency brake. An unmarked police Volvo, which had earlier reached speeds of 135mph, then hit Azarbonyad and the other cars at about 80mph. Jack Lovell, for Azarbonyad, said: "From there, there is something of a domino effect - it flips over and then the other police vehicles are also involved." Advertisement Mum-of-two reportedly begged Azarbonyad to stop during the pursuit. The pair miraculously managed to escape the wreckage without any major injuries. A female police officer suffered soft tissue injuries to her knee and nerve damage to her back and she was in hospital for three days. While a male officer was left with a cut to his head, concussion and whiplash. Advertisement Following the crash, which shut the busy road for 12 hours, Azarbonyad got back behind the wheel just two days later - despite having no licence or insurance. He continued to drive on four further occasions after being told not to as part of his bail conditions. Simon Worthy, prosecuting, said: "One would have thought as a matter of common sense... 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." Advertisement 8 Azarbonyad admitted to dangerous driving Credit: NNP 8 One of the police cars had its roof ripped off Credit: PA 8 The officers were treated for non-life threatening injuries Credit: PA 8 Azarbonyad's BMW was left mangled in the crash Credit: NNP
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- The Irish Sun
Driver on first date jailed after he put SEVEN cops in hospital in huge pile-up while trying to escape officers
A DRIVER on a first date has been jailed after he put seven cops in hospital in a huge pile-up while trying to flee officers. Mazyar Azarbonyad was taking Courtney Redfern home in his powerful BMW on the A41 in Newcastle when police gave chase. Advertisement 8 Mazyar Azarbonyad, 20, left seven police officers in hospital Credit: PA 8 He was on a date with Courtney Redfern at the time Credit: Instagram 8 Damaged police cars and an unmarked black car on its side following the A1 collision Credit: PA 8 The 20-year-old smashed into five cop cars - leaving them destroyed - and wrecked his own car in the horror crash. Shocking photos showed the aftermath of the collision after one of the police cars had its roof torn off. Seven officers were taken to hospital for non-life threatening injuries, while Azarbonyad and his date were unharmed. The Iran-born personal trainer, who came to the UK in around 2020, has now been jailed for 14 months. Advertisement He admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop twice and having no licence and no insurance during the crash. Azarbonyad also pleaded guilty to a string of other offences, including driving without insurance or a licence on several occasions after the crash. Newcastle Crown Court heard the horror unfolded on April 9 at around 2.30am. Police had initially tried to stop Azarbonyad in Gateshead as one of his rear lights was defective but he sped off. Advertisement Most read in The Sun A high-speed chase ensued as the BMW driver made his way to the A1 surrounded by cop cars. He then "rapidly decelerated from 119mph" to stop in the middle of the carriageway - forcing the police to emergency brake. An unmarked police Volvo, which had earlier reached speeds of 135mph, then hit Azarbonyad and the other cars at about 80mph. Jack Lovell, for Azarbonyad, said: "From there, there is something of a domino effect - it flips over and then the other police vehicles are also involved." Advertisement Mum-of-two reportedly The pair miraculously managed to escape the wreckage without any major injuries. A female police officer suffered soft tissue injuries to her knee and nerve damage to her back and she was in hospital for three days. While a male officer was left with a cut to his head, concussion and whiplash. Advertisement Following the crash, which shut the busy road for 12 hours, Azarbonyad got back behind the wheel just two days later - despite having no licence or insurance. He continued to drive on four further occasions after being told not to as part of his bail conditions. Read more on the Irish Sun Simon Worthy, prosecuting, said: "One would have thought as a matter of common sense... 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." Advertisement 8 Azarbonyad admitted to dangerous driving Credit: NNP 8 One of the police cars had its roof ripped off Credit: PA 8 The officers were treated for non-life threatening injuries Credit: PA 8 Azarbonyad's BMW was left mangled in the crash Credit: NNP Advertisement
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Daily Mirror
'First date crash' driver learns fate after collision put seven cops in hospital
A personal trainer who was taking a woman out for a first date when he caused a motorway crash injuring seven police officers was given a 14-month sentence in a young offenders institution today. Mazyar Azarbonyad was behind the wheel of a BMW which was being chased by police along the A1 near the Gateshead and Newcastle border at around 2.30am on April 9 when the collision occurred. Police initially tried to stop the 20-year-old in Swalwell, Gateshead, because a rear light was defective, but he sped away. Newcastle Magistrates' Court heard he was seen later approaching the A1 and was pursued towards Newcastle before the serious collision occurred near junction 75 at the Denton roundabout. The Iran-born defendant, from Stanley, County Durham, was granted police bail after he was questioned about the early morning incident on the A1 – during which he told officers his driving had been 's**t'. And just two days later he was back behind the wheel, driving a red Hyundai on April 11, 12, 13 and 15 to get to work at a gym in Newcastle, despite being warned not to drive and having no licence or insurance. Police saw him on a garage forecourt filling his vehicle up and arrested Azarbonyad before he told them about other times he had driven since the crash. He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop twice and having no licence and no insurance during the crash on April 9, when five police vehicles were badly damaged and seven officers required hospital treatment. Simon Worthy, prosecuting, 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.' Mr Worthy said on the night of the major collision, Azarbonyad had eventually slowed down after being surrounded by police vehicles, then another unmarked car coming from behind collided with them. He said: 'In the defendant's vehicle was a lady who was on her first date with him.' Jack Lovell, defending, said Azarbonyad worked as a self-employed personal trainer at a gym in Newcastle, did not claim benefits and had no previous convictions. 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 alone independently. Mr Lovell said the defendant had shown genuine remorse for his actions. He had been 'very foolish' to get back behind the wheel, the solicitor said. On the night of the crash, Azarbonyad was on his way to drop his date - Courtney Redfern - off home when he came to the attention of the police. 'He tells me at that point it is immediate panic,' the solicitor said. 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, put his indicators on and gestured out of the window with his hand to show he was braking, the court heard. Mr Lovell said a number of the police vehicles manoeuvred around the BMW and helicopter footage showed he was 'essentially at a stop' when a following unmarked police Volvo, which had earlier reached speeds of 135mph, collided with them at around 80mph. 'From there, there is something of a domino effect, it flips over and then the other police vehicles are also involved,' Mr Lovell said. '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. He accepts that by way of his guilty plea.'
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Why defeats and arrest warrant for not wearing hijab won't prevent Sara Khadem from smiling
For a chess player in the middle of a tournament, Sara Khadem smiles a lot. Plenty of players will tell you how much joy they get out of playing the sport of 64 squares. But come tournament time, most players enter a zone of brooding grimness which they refuse to exit even when they're not actually playing on the board. Meals are had in hotel rooms. Interview requests are politely rebuffed. Even eye contact with the world is reduced. Sara, on the other hand, comes across as a breath of fresh air, laughing at jokes with her friends during meals, happy to chat away after games. 'I have been happy even in my worst tournaments,' laughs Sara when asked how she manages to be at ease even in the middle of a tournament as prestigious as Norway Chess — which by her own admission, is the 'strongest women's tournament she has participated in'. 'I might smile, but I might be upset about the game also. But in general, I feel like my life isn't dependent on these games because I'm a happy person in general. If I win this tournament, and if you tell me my life would change, I'd say, 'No, no, it won't.' '(Winning or losing) is not the end of the world. I have had good tournaments. I have had bad ones. It all passes,' says the 28-year-old who understands fully well that life holds the capacity to inflict much harsher cuts than your king getting checkmated. Just days after this conversation, Sara, whose full name is Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, took down Lei Tingjie in round 4 at Norway Chess with black pieces. Sara, who is the only international master competing in the Norway Chess tournament, has seen her life upended a few times over the past decade. The Iran-born player made global headlines in December 2022 when she opted not to wear a hijab during the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships. It was a stand she took partly to protest the custodial death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, after she was arrested by the morality police in Tehran. Amini's death led to unprecedented street protests in Iran. Sara's decision to play without the headscarf angered the powers that be and it led to her exile from the country she loved because there was an arrest warrant issued by Iranian authorities against her in January 2023. It was the final nail. Her husband, Ardeshir Ahmadi, who is a filmmaker, TV host and businessman, had spent three months in an Iranian prison in 2015. Sara had also reportedly had her passport confiscated by Iranian authorities for a few months in the past. 'In my chess career I had reached a point that maybe I wasn't sure what I wanted to do,' she admits. 'I was a very motivated player, but at some point I had a travel ban from the Iranian government so I couldn't travel for six months. That was at a point when I was collecting my GM norms, where I was at my peak rating. Then COVID happened, after that I had my baby and we immigrated. These were a lot of changes in my life that made me go very slowly, even backwards! I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue this. But I think tournaments like these give me motivation.' In another country, Sara would have been toasted for her success on the board. She had won the under-12 World Youth Chess Championship just four years after moving her first chess piece. She was also the under-16 World Blitz Chess Champion in 2013, and the under-20 runner-up in classical chess in 2014 when she was 17. 'I was getting support from the people but when you cannot even travel because your own government bans you and they tell you your whole career doesn't matter because we are thinking of something else, then you will reach a point where you don't want to stay,' she says. 'I wouldn't say Iranian chess players were not getting support. Chess is better there than many other countries. Changing the federation was very difficult, because I like to play for Iran, I liked my country, it wasn't about the country.' In one of those moments of frustration, Sara says he told her husband that she will come work with him. 'He was like, 'but what will you do?' I was going to his office, because I couldn't stay home. I had stopped looking at chess. I was thinking, what else can I do with my life? And then COVID happened. But still, taking away your passport is something no one would want,' she adds. Sara is now piecing together her chess career once more after transferring her chess federation from Iran to Spain in July 2023. She laughs as she informs that she has a young boy at home, called Sam, who is angry at her at the moment because she is away playing chess. She says her quest now is to find a balance between chess and her family. 'This is the first long tournament that I'm playing after a long time. I don't want to miss the first years with my son. I know a lot of players care about their careers a lot, but I want to make a balance,' she says with a smile. Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More
South Wales Guardian
20-05-2025
- South Wales Guardian
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.
