PC who struck 74-year-old on motorbike guilty of causing death by dangerous driving

A police officer who struck a 74-year-old woman on a motorbike after speeding through a red light on a 999 call has been convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.

PC Mark Roberts, 57, was answering an emergency call for a choking baby when he crashed into Ronald and Muriel Pinkney in Gateshead in July 2022. Teesside Crown Court heard on Wednesday how Roberts was doing 43mph on a 30mph road as he approached the lights, which had been red for six seconds.

He had slowed to around 25mph when his marked Northumbria Police Peugeot 308 crashed into the married couple. Both pensioners were knocked from their bike.

Mr Pinkney, now 81, sustained a bleed on the brain and multiple fractures, but survived. Mrs Pinkney sustained head and neck injuries, and was later pronounced dead.

Roberts, who lives in Darlington, admitted causing death by careless driving, but denied the more serious offence of causing death by dangerous driving. He was also convicted of causing Mr Pinkney serious injury by dangerous driving.

Prosecutors claimed he should have approached the junction slower - even if it was in pursuit of a "noble cause". In his police statement, Roberts said he was asked by paramedics to assist a choking five-week-old baby, because he could get there quicker then them.

He added that his blue lights and sirens were on after departing from Whickham police station. Moments before the crash he said he saw a white van make an emergency stop.

"I couldn't see anything else before travelling towards the junction," the officer said in his statement, which was read out in court on Tuesday. "The next thing I recall is there was a bang and both airbags deployed and I hit the windscreen, which knocked me out for a few seconds." Read more from Sky News:Teen swims four hours to save familyAir India flight grounded after 'possible defect' Roberts then saw two people on the ground with crash helmets on before blacking out.

He called it a "tragic accident.