Police officer who killed a pensioner while responding to 999 call is jailed – despite plea by victim’s family
A police officer who killed a 74-year-old motorcyclist while responding to a 999 call has been jailed despite the victim’s family wanting him to be spared jail.
PC Mark Roberts, 57, ran a red light and hit motorcyclist Ronald Pinkney and his wife Muriel in their marked police car.
Ms Pinkney suffered fatal head and neck injuries in the crash, which occurred at speeds of 30 miles per hour. Her husband suffered a brain hemorrhage and multiple fractures.
Roberts, an army veteran who was traveling at 43 miles per hour as he approached the lights before the crash, was jailed for 27 months at Teesside Crown Court on Monday after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr and Mrs Pinkney’s daughter, Dawn Hunter-Pinkney, said the family did not want the former officer to be jailed ‘for doing his job’.
He said the family ‘don’t blame the police for what happened’ and added: ‘We were angry, but the more we heard why the police were driving the way they were, the more we understood.
‘We accept that this was a very tragic accident with very tragic consequences, but sending the officer to prison will not bring Mam back.’
PC Mark Roberts, 57, ran a red light and hit motorcyclist Ronald Pinkney and his wife Muriel in their marked police car.
Pictured: Ronald and Muriel Pinkney
Roberts said the ambulance service requested help with the five-week-old drowning baby, which showed paramedics did not believe they could reach the patient before police. Picture: Accident scene
Join the discussion
Should police who respond to emergencies be held criminally liable for tragic errors on the job?
The court heard Roberts, of Darlington, drove through a light that was on “stop” for six seconds while responding to a first-degree emergency call about a choking baby.
He was still traveling at 25mph when his vehicle collided with the couple in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear in July 2022.
Roberts said the ambulance service requested help with the five-week-old drowning baby, which showed paramedics did not believe they could reach the patient before police.
He said he picked up his vehicle from Whickham police station, turned on its blue lights and sirens, and proceeded through traffic and red lights.
Seconds before the collision with the Pinkneys’ motorcycle, the police officer said he saw a white van make an emergency stop.
‘I couldn’t see anything else before heading towards the intersection. The next thing I remember there was a bang and both airbags deployed and I hit the windshield which knocked me out for a few seconds. I believe this was a tragic accident.’
The court heard Roberts was “heartbroken” by the crash and led an “extraordinary life of public service”, joining the police after serving in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Judge Francis Laird KC said: ‘Only a prison sentence can be justified for these offences. ‘Your speed was too high as you approached the junction.’
