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A personal trainer who was taking a woman out for a first date when he caused a motorway crash injuring seven police officers was given a 14-month sentence in a young offenders institution

today. Mazyar Azarbonyad was behind the wheel of a BMW which was being chased by police along the A1 near the Gateshead and Newcastle border at around 2.30am on April 9 when the collision

occurred. Police initially tried to stop the 20-year-old in Swalwell, Gateshead, because a rear light was defective, but he sped away. Newcastle Magistrates’ Court heard he was seen later

approaching the A1 and was pursued towards Newcastle before the serious collision occurred near junction 75 at the Denton roundabout. The Iran-born defendant, from Stanley, County Durham,

was granted police bail after he was questioned about the early morning incident on the A1 – during which he told officers his driving had been “s**t”. And just two days later he was back

behind the wheel, driving a red Hyundai on April 11, 12, 13 and 15 to get to work at a gym in Newcastle, despite being warned not to drive and having no licence or insurance. Police saw him

on a garage forecourt filling his vehicle up and arrested Azarbonyad before he told them about other times he had driven since the crash. He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to

stop twice and having no licence and no insurance during the crash on April 9, when five police vehicles were badly damaged and seven officers required hospital treatment. Simon Worthy,

prosecuting, said: “One would have thought as a matter of common sense that having been involved in something of this seriousness, plastered all over the press, the TV, the newspapers,

online, that you would have been a bit more sensible about your activities, having been so lucky to get out of an accident only two days before. But no, no, you continue to stick two fingers

up.” Mr Worthy said on the night of the major collision, Azarbonyad had eventually slowed down after being surrounded by police vehicles, then another unmarked car coming from behind

collided with them. He said: “In the defendant’s vehicle was a lady who was on her first date with him.” Jack Lovell, defending, said Azarbonyad worked as a self-employed personal trainer at

a gym in Newcastle, did not claim benefits and had no previous convictions. He was supported after coming to the UK from Iran aged 15 or 16 but that stopped when he became an adult and he

has lived alone independently. Mr Lovell said the defendant had shown genuine remorse for his actions. He had been “very foolish” to get back behind the wheel, the solicitor said. On the

night of the crash, Azarbonyad was on his way to drop his date - Courtney Redfern - off home when he came to the attention of the police. “He tells me at that point it is immediate panic,”

the solicitor said. The defendant knew he should have pulled over immediately, Mr Lovell said, but after getting on the A1 and driving some distance, he did slow down, put his indicators on

and gestured out of the window with his hand to show he was braking, the court heard. Mr Lovell said a number of the police vehicles manoeuvred around the BMW and helicopter footage showed

he was “essentially at a stop” when a following unmarked police Volvo, which had earlier reached speeds of 135mph, collided with them at around 80mph. “From there, there is something of a

domino effect, it flips over and then the other police vehicles are also involved,” Mr Lovell said. “I am not in any way trying to excuse – he should not have been driving the vehicle, it is

his driving that has led to the incident on the A1. He accepts that by way of his guilty plea.”