Overview
- A Teesside Crown Court jury found PC Mark Roberts guilty of causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving after roughly an hour of deliberation.
- The collision occurred on 8 July 2022 on Dunston Road in Gateshead when Roberts ran a red light and struck a motorcycle ridden by Ronald Pinkney with his wife, Muriel, who died nine days later; Mr Pinkney sustained multiple serious injuries.
- Roberts was responding to a Grade 1 emergency about a baby who had stopped breathing with blue lights and siren activated, but guidance requires treating red signals as give-way and the motorcycle had a green light.
- Helmet-camera and dash-cam footage were shown to the jury, and CPS-cited expert analysis estimated speeds up to about 49 mph in a 30 mph zone with the light at red for around six seconds and no full emergency braking; a collision investigator said braking two seconds earlier could have prevented the crash.
- Roberts remains suspended from Northumbria Police, has been granted bail, and faces sentencing on 7 April as misconduct proceedings progress alongside IOPC and CPS oversight.