Man appears in court charged with 21 offences after police officer suffered broken ribs in collision in Sunderland

A man has appeared in court after a serious collision in Sunderland left a police officer and his dogs injured.
Scene of the collision.Scene of the collision.
Scene of the collision.

John Robert McCabe, 30, of Fordenbridge Road, Sunderland appeared before magistrates sitting at Newcastle Crown Court charged with 21 driving offences.

The offences, which included causing serious injury by dangerous driving, careless driving without due care and attention, and failing to stop after an accident, are connected to a series of incidents that took place in Sunderland on Sunday, which resulted in Mowbray Road being sealed off for a number of hours.

Scene of the collision.Scene of the collision.
Scene of the collision.
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Officers were deployed at 10.50am after a silver Vauxhall Corsa had collided with another vehicle before driving off.

A search was subsequently carried out for the car, and while police were responding to the incident, the vehicle collided with a police dog van on Mowbray Road.

Two occupants of the Corsa – a man and a woman - were taken to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries, along with a police officer.

They have all since been discharged.

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McCabe stood before the bench to confirm his name and address, his left arm was in a sling.

Chair of the magistrates bench Emily Aitken-Fell was informed by prosecutor Rehana Haque to the extent of the police officer’s injuries.

She said: “The injuries to the officer included three broken ribs and a shard of glass in the eye.

“The injuries to the ribs were so bad they could have punctured his lung.

“The officer had three dogs in the back of his van.

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“There was also two puppies, aged five months in training, the dogs had a few injuries also.”

Defence solicitor Alastair Naismith applied for bail but the application was rejected.

Ms Aitken-Fell said: “You will not be granted bail.”

McCabe will next appear at Newcastle Crown Court on January 29.

Any witnesses to the collision, or anyone who has dashcam footage, is asked to contact police on 101 quoting reference 301 301218.