logo
Driver on first date jailed after he put SEVEN cops in hospital in huge pile-up while trying to escape officers

Driver on first date jailed after he put SEVEN cops in hospital in huge pile-up while trying to escape officers

The Sun02-06-2025
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.
8
8
8
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.
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.
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."
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.
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."
8
8
8
8
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

There's a royal reason Trump won't escape Jeffrey Epstein fallout on trip to his Scotland golf courses — Prince Andrew
There's a royal reason Trump won't escape Jeffrey Epstein fallout on trip to his Scotland golf courses — Prince Andrew

The Independent

time14 minutes ago

  • The Independent

There's a royal reason Trump won't escape Jeffrey Epstein fallout on trip to his Scotland golf courses — Prince Andrew

The Republican-led House of Representatives shut down early for its summer break to avoid Jeffrey Epstein motions. The Senate GOP has been in see-no-evil mode the past week over the controversy swirling around the seemingly vanished 'client list' of the high-flying financier and convicted pedophile who once palled around with Donald Trump and Bill Clinton among many other power players. So it makes perfect sense that President Trump is hoping for five days away from the Epstein fallout firestorm that has landed him in hot water not just with Democrats but his own MAGA base over the Justice Department's stonewalling on the release of all the Epstein files, as Trump and AG Pam Bondi had promised. Well, Scotland may not be far enough for that. Sure, Trump will meet with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer early next week, but the vast majority of his known itinerary consists of visits to his Scottish golf resorts. One, Trump Turnberry and the other Trump International in Aberdeen, where he is set to open a brand new course that will be named for his late mother, Mary Anne McLeod Trump, who was born in Scotland. And that's the problem for Trump, thanks to a particular member of the Royal family who happens to be a golf-loving frequenter of his courses, is Scotland's Earl of Inverness — and who also happens to be tainted by his past close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein... Prince Andrew. Trump Turnberry, in fact, still boasts of its visits from Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, who was forced to stand down from royal duties in 2020 over his links to Epstein. The former Royal Navy officer — currently eighth in line to the British throne — had a long and controversial relationship with with the late sex offender that predated Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting a teenage prostitute but also which continued long after the financier became a pariah in most respectable circles. Andrew's habit of staying at Epstein's residences during travel to the U.S. became fodder for controversy even as the royal claimed there was nothing untoward about the relationship and has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. But the whispers and rumors took on a more urgent character after Andrew became the defendant in a civil lawsuit brought by the late Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that the Duke once had sexual relations with her after she was trafficked to him as a minor by Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Although Buckingham Palace asserted in a 2015 statement that Giuffre's allegations — which included claims that she'd had sexual relations with the Duke on three separate occasions — were 'categorically untrue,' the Duke and Giuffre ended up settling the lawsuit, with no admission of liability, in February 2022, one month after Andrew's royal patronages and honorary military titles were revoked by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Andrew has always strongly denied the allegations leveled against him by Giuffre. Giuffre, perhaps the most outspoken survivor of Epstein's sexual abuse, died by suicide at the age of 41 in April. 'It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,' Giuffre's family said in a statement to The Independent after she died. 'She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.' Since then, Andrew has largely remained out of the spotlight with his reputation tarred by his association with the late sex offender. But that disgrace doesn't appear to bother Trump or his eponymous real estate and resort company, which as of this week still lists Andrew as one of the 'famous visitors' who have enjoyed the 'refined hospitality' at Trump Turnberry. His Aberdeenshire golf resort has even deeper connections to the prince, who played a major role in convincing Trump to build it in 2006, less than a decade before his entry onto the American political scene. According to Agence France-Presse, Andrew met with Trump at the his eponymous New York skyscraper in September of that year to cajole the developer into moving forward with the Aberdeen golf project. He later said the Prince was a 'great guy' who'd made a 'terrific impression' on him. 'He gave a presentation here to make sure I spend one billion pounds in your country, and that's what I'm going to be doing,' Trump added, according to the report. The relationship between the prince and the future president continued for the intervening decade, and when Trump visited Scotland during his second year in the White House, Andrew joined him for a round of golf at Turnberry — a round Trump later claimed to have won. The pair remained cordial enough that when President Trump visited the U.K. for a state visit in his first term in 2019, Andrew was his designated royal escort. The president's escape to his ancestral homeland comes as there continues to be bipartisan furor around Department of Justice records about Epstein, a one-time power-player financier and convicted pedophile who was arrested for alleged sex trafficking by federal authorities in 2019 and was found to have died by suicide in his jail cell while awaiting trial. The years-old prosecution has been a longtime fixation for many of Trump's MAGA supporters who believe they contain damaging information on prominent Democrats and other liberal celebrities. For years, the president's supporters have pushed for release of what they believe was a list of powerful people to whom Epstein is alleged to have trafficked young girls, as well as other information they believe would reflect negatively on members of the Democratic Party, various Hollywood celebrities, and other purported elites who they believe to be part of a sinister cabal controlling world events. Trump has winked and nodded at such beliefs and had indicated during his 2024 campaign that his administration would release the documents in question if he were victorious in last year's presidential election. But many of his most prominent supporters have been crying foul in recent weeks after the Department of Justice announced it would not be releasing the so-called Epstein Files. And Democrats are now joining the chorus of calls for transparency, citing Trump's likely presence in the documents on account of his long-term friendship with Epstein. Trump socialized with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, but reportedly cut ties before Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. While Trump has not been accused of any formal wrongdoing or charged with any crime, his proximity to Epstein, someone he once called a friend, has heightened conspiracy theories that the government is withholding documents that could reveal embarrassing information about high-profile individuals. Still, being named in the so-called Epstein list of contacts or case files is not an indication of any wrongdoing and Trump has denied having any knowledge of Epstein's crimes before he ended their friendship as has Bill Clinton. Trump has also sued the Wall Street Journal for defamation over its reporting that he sent a bawdy 50th birthday message to Epstein. Clinton, likewise, was reportedly one of many who sent messages to the financier on that occasion. On Thursday, Trump made yet another effort to dissuade his base from caring about the Epstein matter by lashing out on Truth Social, calling the entire affair a 'scam' and a 'hoax' and stating that he hopes the release of grand jury testimony about the late sex offender will quell the entire thing. But if the president is hoping to gain some distance from the scandal with some time on the links, he's gone to the wrong golf courses.

Hundreds gather at vigil for mother and children killed in Co Fermanagh shooting
Hundreds gather at vigil for mother and children killed in Co Fermanagh shooting

The Independent

time14 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Hundreds gather at vigil for mother and children killed in Co Fermanagh shooting

Hundreds of people have gathered for a community vigil in memory of a woman and her two teenage children who died following a shooting in Co Fermanagh. People wrapped their arms around each other as they remembered Vanessa Whyte, 45, a vet originally from Co Clare, her son James, 14, and daughter Sara, 13. The vigil was organised by a community group and held at the primary school, Maguiresbridge Primary School, where James and Sara previously attended. A book of condolence, set up next to a framed photo of the family and surrounded by white flowers and candles, was also opened at the school. The principal of Maguiresbridge Primary School, Honor Irvine, described both James and Sara as popular pupils who loved sport. 'I'm a teaching principal so I taught them both for two years,' she told the PA news agency. 'James was full of fun, always laughing, loved to get a laugh, loved to be outdoors. 'Sara was the same. Sara loved outdoors, bit of a tomboy, and the two of them got on very well, (had) lots of friends and were very popular in school.' She described their mother Vanessa, who was a member of the parents' support group which organised fundraisers for the school, as 'full of life', and a 'roll up your sleeves, get the job done' type of person. She said the vigil, facilitated by the school, offered a place for the community to grieve together. 'It's been lovely to hear people who knew Vanessa and knew Sara and knew James, talking about them and sharing memories,' she said. 'For the community, its a place to mourn together and to support and comfort each other.' She said the family were 'much loved' and would 'live on in our memories at Maguiresbridge Primary School for many, many years to come'. 'It's hard to put it into words to be honest, we're just heartbroken. And I don't think it has sunk in, it will be the days and weeks ahead when we realise the tragic loss that has happened in this community,' she added. The vigil was organised by the Village Rural Development Association to give people an opportunity to 'come together and support each other at this difficult time'. 'This is an opportunity for our village to stand together in the face of such grief,' it said in a statement on social media. Flowers, teddy bears and an Arsenal football top with written notes have been laid close to scene of the incident in Drummeer Road. A fourth person, a man who was a member of the same household, remains in a serious condition in hospital in Belfast following the incident on Wednesday. A murder investigation has been launched and police said a triple murder and attempted suicide is one line of inquiry being pursued. First Minister Michelle O'Neill said the level of the tragedy is 'overwhelming'. 'Everybody I have been speaking to finds it very hard to convey what they really feel, deep in their hearts, because there are moments in life that really do stop us in our tracks, and certainly for me, this feels like one of those moments,' she told the BBC. 'People are really stunned and tears have been shed for this beautiful family. You only have to think about Vanessa, a young mother, her two gorgeous children, a whole life ahead of them, and that has all now been cut short. 'It's a harrowing time, obviously immediately for their family, for everybody that loved them, everybody that knew them, the community that they lived in, the wider Fermanagh community and even further than that. This has impacted so many people.' Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir described what happened as 'heartbreaking'. 'Vanessa was a highly respected vet and work colleague. The situation that has unfolded here is heartbreaking and my thoughts and prayers are with the families, friends, work colleagues of Vanessa, and also James and Sara,' he told the BBC. 'It's really difficult to comprehend to be honest.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store