Darlington police officer convicted over death of pensioner in Gateshead crash

A Northumbria Police officer has been found guilty of causing the death of a pensioner following a collision while responding to an emergency call.

PC Mark Roberts, from Darlington, was driving a marked police vehicle when it collided with a motorcycle on Dunston Road, near the Metrocentre in Gateshead, shortly after 3pm on Friday, July 8, 2022.

The 57-year-old officer had been responding to an urgent report involving a young child who was choking and drove through a series of red traffic lights before the crash occurred.

Muriel Pinkney, aged 74, who was a passenger on the motorcycle, was taken to hospital but died nine days later as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.

Her husband, Ronald Pinkney, who was 77 at the time and riding the motorbike, suffered fractures to his leg, hip and pelvis.

A jury at Teesside Crown Court took less than an hour to find Roberts guilty of causing death by dangerous driving in relation to Mrs Pinkney and causing serious injury by dangerous driving to her husband.

Roberts had previously pleaded guilty to the lesser offences of causing death by careless driving and causing serious injury by careless driving.

Judge Francis Laird KC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, adjourned sentencing until Tuesday, April 7, to allow for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

Addressing the defendant, Judge Laird said: “The jury have convicted you of the more serious offences.

“I will need to consider what is the appropriate sentence for the two offences for which you have been found guilty. I will benefit greatly from a pre-sentence report.”

Roberts was released on bail pending his sentencing hearing.

During the trial, prosecutor John Harrison KC told jurors that the officer failed to slow sufficiently as he approached the traffic lights moments before the collision and showed disregard for other road users.

In his closing address, he said: “The prosecution says how he drove was dangerous – it was far below the standard expected of a competent driver.

“It was that driving that caused death and serious injury to two people.”

Roberts did not give evidence in his defence during the trial.

His barrister, Luke Ponte, said his client had accepted responsibility for the collision but disputed that his driving amounted to dangerous driving, describing the lapse as momentary.

Sergeant Ian Keenleyside, a forensic collision investigator for Northumbria Police, told the court the crash could have been avoided if Roberts had begun braking two seconds earlier, or around 15 metres sooner. The jury heard the officer was travelling at approximately 25mph at the time of impact.

Following the verdict, Independent Office for Police Conduct director Emily Barry said the incident had devastating consequences for the victims’ family.

She said: “This incident will have had a devastating impact on the lives of Ronald and his wife Muriel’s family and friends, and our sympathies remain with them and all those affected.

“PC Roberts was a trained police driver. While guidance allows officers to pass through red lights and exceed speed limits in certain circumstances, it is never justified if the manner of driving puts other road users at risk.”

She added that while it would never have been the officer’s intention to cause harm, his actions had fatal consequences and he had now been held accountable.

Gavin Hotchkiss, a specialist prosecutor in the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, described the crash as “tragic and avoidable”.

He said: “While PC Roberts was responding to an emergency, he had a duty to drive with due care and attention to the safety of others. The evidence showed he failed to treat the red light as a stop or give way, as required by police training.”

Roberts remains suspended from duty with Northumbria Police.