PC admits causing fatal crash in police car

A police officer has admitted causing death by careless driving after a 74-year-old woman was killed in a crash.

Muriel Pinkney was a passenger on a motorbike, which had been travelling on Dunston Road in Gateshead, when it was involved in a collision with a marked police car.

Appearing at Durham Crown Court, PC Mark Roberts, 56, from Darlington, denied causing death by dangerous driving.

A five-day trial date has been provisionally set for May 2026 and the Northumbria Police officer was given unconditional bail.

Ms Pinkney died in hospital nine days after the crash.

Robert Pinkney, 77, also suffered multiple fractures in the collision, which happened near the Metrocentre on 8 July 2022.

Roberts has admitted causing serious injury to Mr Pinkney by careless driving but denied causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The court heard the prosecution intended to proceed to trial on the two dangerous driving charges.

The crash sparked an investigation by the Independent Office For Police Conduct (IOPC), which was completed in December 2023.

The IOPC then referred its evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which authorised charges.

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