A police officer who fatally shot a 74-year-old motorcyclist during a 999 emergency response has been sentenced to prison — even though the victim’s family requested leniency.
PC Mark Roberts, 57, ran a red light and collided with motorcyclist Ronald Pinkney and his wife Muriel while they were in a police vehicle.
Mrs. Pinkney sustained severe head and neck injuries in the accident on a 30mph section of road. Her husband experienced a brain hemorrhage and several broken bones.
Former soldier Roberts, who was driving at 43mph while nearing the traffic lights prior to the accident, received a 27-month prison sentence at Teesside Crown Court on Monday following his conviction for causing death through dangerous driving and causing severe harm through reckless driving.
In a victim impact statement presented to the court, Dawn Hunter-Pinkney, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Pinkney, stated that the family did not wish for the former officer to be imprisoned “for doing his job.”
She stated that the family “shouldn’t hold the officer responsible for what occurred,” and continued, “We were upset, but as we learn more about why the officer was driving the way he did, we are beginning to comprehend.”
We acknowledge that this is a deeply tragic incident with a heartbreaking result, but putting the officer in prison will not bring Mam back.
The court was informed that Roberts, from Darlington, was responding to a level-one emergency involving a choking infant when he encountered a traffic light that had been red for six seconds.
He was continuing to move at approximately 25mph when his car crashed into the couple in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, in July 2022.
Roberts mentioned that the ambulance service had asked for help regarding a five-week-old infant who was choking, suggesting that paramedics felt they couldn’t reach the child before the police.
He mentioned that he retrieved his vehicle from Whickham police station, turned on his blue lights and sirens, and proceeded through traffic and red lights.
Moments before the crash involving the Pinkneys’ motorcycle, the officer reported seeing a white van come to a sudden halt, he stated.
I couldn’t notice anything else prior to heading toward the intersection. The next thing I remember is a loud noise, followed by the airbags inflating and me colliding with the windshield, which caused me to lose consciousness for a few seconds. I think this was a sad accident.
The court was told that Roberts was ‘heartbroken’ following the accident and had lived a ‘remarkable life of public service’, having joined the police force after serving in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Judge Francis Laird KC stated, “A prison sentence is the only appropriate punishment for these crimes. The speed at which you approached the intersection was excessively high.”
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