{"id":6098,"date":"2025-06-02T12:05:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T12:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/?p=6098"},"modified":"2025-06-03T11:35:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T11:35:14","slug":"driver-jailed-after-brake-checking-police-and-causing-a1-pile-up-in-120mph-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/02\/driver-jailed-after-brake-checking-police-and-causing-a1-pile-up-in-120mph-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"Driver jailed after brake-checking police and causing A1 pile-up in 120mph chase"},"content":{"rendered":"
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class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\twindow.addEventListener(‘metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded’, function(data) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tif (typeof(data.detail) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar player = data.detail.carousel.el_;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.removeChild(placeholder);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A personal trainer has been jailed for over a year after he caused a ‘catastrophic’ crash when he brake-checked police.<\/p>\n<p>Mazyar Azarbonyad, 20, was pulled over in Wickham, Gateshead, in his BMW X5 for speeding in the early hours of April 9 while taking Courtney Redfern home after their first date.<\/p>\n<p>But as a police officer approached the vehicle, he said ‘nah’ before speeding off. <\/p>\n<p>The car was then spotted on Front Street, Whickham, and a second chase took place. <\/p>\n<p>This time, he drove onto the A1 Denton Interchange in Newcastle. <\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\" data-ico=\"factbox_article\" data-track-module=\"factbox_article\">\n<h2 class=\"factbox-title\">\n\t\t\t\tSign up for all of the latest stories\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox-content\">\n<p>Start your day informed with Metro’s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/newsletters\/news-updates\/?signup-source=news-article\">News Updates<\/a><\/strong> newsletter or get <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/newsletters\/breaking-news\/\">Breaking News<\/a> <\/strong>alerts the moment it happens.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"677\" src=\"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_254037202-e28d-e1748873384302.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23308863\" alt=\"Mazyar Azarbonyad arrives at Newcastle Crown Court for sentencing after police car pile-up crash on the A1.\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Mazyar and his passenger’s first date ended disastrously after he sped away from the police (Picture: Owen Humphreys\/PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_254037323-619d.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23308859\" alt=\"Mazyar Azarbonyad arrives at Newcastle Crown Court for sentencing over a multiple vehicle crash which injured seven police officers following a police pursuit on the A1 on April 9. Personal trainer Azarbonyad, 20, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop twice and having no licence and no insurance during the crash when five police vehicles were badly damaged and seven officers required hospital treatment. Picture date: Monday June 2, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story COURTS A1. Photo credit should read: Owen Humphreys\/PA Wire\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Mazyar Azarbonyad was sentenced to youth detention (Picture: Owen Humphreys\/PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He reached speeds in excess of 120mph with several police cars in pursuit before braking suddenly in the middle of the carriageway, causing a pile-up involving the cars behind him.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutor Jolyon Perks said that Courtney told him multiple times to stop, fearing that he could have killed someone.<\/p>\n<p>Several police officers were trapped in the wreckage. Some were knocked unconscious, and many suffered varying degrees of injury. One was left with nerve damage in her back and soft tissue damage to her knee. Another needed stitches on his forehead.<\/p>\n<p>Four of them have still not returned to duty. <\/p>\n<p>Mr Perks said: \u2018A number of these officers were trapped in vehicles. There were liquids involved, thankfully not petrol. A number of officers were rendered unconscious. It was clearly a very traumatic incident.\u2019<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_252273907-9ff8.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23309103\" alt=\"Police cars damaged and crashed on the A1 after the chase and pile-up near Newcastle.\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Marked and unmarked police cars were badly damaged, while Mazyar and his date escaped unscathed (Picture: Owen Humphreys\/PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite facing court action, Azarbonyad was back behind the wheel of his car just two days later, driving to work at a gym in Newcastle on April 11, 12 and 13.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview after the crash, Azarbonyad described his driving as \u2018s***\u2019. However, he denied the emergency braking and accused the police officers of travelling too fast.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Judge Tim Gittins told Azarbonyad during his sentencing hearing today: ‘It is nothing short of a miracle that no one was more seriously injured or that there were not multiple fatalities.’<\/p>\n<p>Azarbonyad, who moved to the UK from Iran when he was 14, only had a provisional licence, no insurance and had only had three driving lessons.<\/p>\n<p>He claimed that he sped off because his passenger Courtney said she had drugs on her and he panicked.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Gittins said: \u2018Whether or not you were made aware of the small amount of cannabis in her possession, I am satisfied you made a deliberate decision to make off substantially because of your unlawful driving position.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_246900115-4e2e.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23307146\" alt=\"The scene on the A1, which has been shut in both directions on Tyneside, following a major collision which caused "serious injuries", the Highways Agency has said.\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>The state of the unmarked police car, which had its rear completely smashed in (Picture: Owen Humphreys\/PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>‘You should have been nowhere near the driving seat of any vehicle that night, let alone one such as a BMW X5, a large and powerful SUV.’<\/p>\n<p>Azarbonyad admitted several driving offences, including driving without insurance multiple times, including after the crash, and failing to stop.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Superintendent Billy Mulligan said: ‘What should have been a simple stop turned into him driving incredibly dangerously in a bid to get away from officers.<\/p>\n<p>‘He showed absolutely zero regard for the safety of anyone else that morning, and his decision-making behind the wheel put lives at risk.’<\/p>\n<p>He said it was ‘sheer luck that Mazyar Azarbonyad did not kill anyone that day with his reckless actions.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Azarbonyad was sentenced to 14 months’ detention at a young offenders\u2019 institution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong><strong><strong>Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"mailto:webnews@metro.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\">webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this, <\/strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Metro.co.uk”,”duration”:”T44S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/04\/09\/09\/97074995-0-image-m-1_1744188297450.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2025-04-09T09:42:19+0100″,”description”:”The A1 Western bypass in Newcastle closed in both directions after at least four police cars and one civilian car was involved in a collision, with five people hospitalised.”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2025\/04\/09\/7311572377873564668\/480x270_MP4_7311572377873564668.mp4″,”height”:270,”width”:480} To<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/02\/driver-jailed-after-brake-checking-police-and-causing-a1-pile-up-in-120mph-chase\/\" class=\"readmore\">Continue reading<svg class=\"icon icon-arrow-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"img\"> <use href=\"#icon-arrow-right\" xlink:href=\"#icon-arrow-right\"><\/use> <\/svg><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Driver jailed after brake-checking police and causing A1 pile-up in 120mph chase<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6098"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6098"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6105,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6098\/revisions\/6105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}