Men jailed after crashing stolen car into Sunderland care home
A car collided into the building during a police pursuit, leaving eight residents requiring hospital treatment
Two men have been jailed for robbing a woman of a BMW which later crashed into a care home in Sunderland during a police chase.
Driver Sam Asgari-Tabar and passenger Reece Parish, both 21, ploughed into Highcliffe Care Home in Sunderland in July earlier this year after taking the vehicle for a test drive.
The pair had gone to see a car had been advertised for sale on Facebook before driving off with a terrified woman who was selling it on behalf of a relative still in it.
They pleaded guilty to robbery - with Asgari-Tabar also admitting causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Northumbria Police were called to reports of a stolen car in Fenham, Newcastle, on the evening of 10 July and a suspected vehicle was spotted in the Sunderland area 15 minutes later.
Officers pursued the car, which ended with the BMW crashing into the care home.
The force initially said eight residents at Highcliffe Care Home required hospital treatment.
Two days later, it said a woman in her 90s and a woman in her 80s, neither of whom were taken to hospital, had died and police inquiries were ongoing.
Northumbria Police confirmed the two men will not face charges over the deaths of the two women.
Today, at Newcastle Crown Court, Sam Asgari-Tabar was jailed for a total of five years and two months for causing serious injury by dangerous driving and robbery.
He will also serve a further six months for a previous offence of assault for which he’d received a suspended sentence which he was serving at the time of the care home crash.
He’s also disqualified from driving for seven years and six months.
Reece Parish is jailed for total of three years and one month.
This includes 19 months for the robbery and 18 months for violent disorder in the Sunderland riots - he was being investigated for this when the care home crash took place.
Judge Earl described the dangerous driving as one of the worst examples of this offence he’s seen in 45 years - noting speeds in excess, at points, of over 100mph during the police pursuit.
Further adding 'it is amazing no one else was caught up in this catastrophe'.