Officer Sentenced to 27 Months for Fatal Crash in Emergency Response

A police officer was sentenced to 27 months in prison on Monday at Teesside Crown Court for causing the death of a 74-year-old woman and serious injury to her husband during a high-speed response to an emergency call in Gateshead, despite pleas from the victim's family to spare him incarceration.

PC Mark Roberts, 57, from Darlington, was driving a marked Northumbria Police vehicle on July 8, 2022, when he approached a junction on Dunston Road near the Metrocentre at 43 mph in a 30 mph zone. Responding to a Grade 1 emergency involving a choking five-week-old baby, Roberts activated his blue lights and sirens before proceeding through a red light that had been on for six seconds. The vehicle collided with a motorcycle carrying Ronald Pinkney, 77, and his wife Muriel at around 25 mph, throwing the couple from the bike.

Muriel Pinkney suffered fatal head and neck injuries and died several days later from blunt force trauma. Her husband sustained a brain bleed, multiple fractures including in his leg, and now walks with a permanent limp. The couple, married for over 50 years, had been returning from a day trip to Northumberland and were known for their active lifestyle, including...