A 21-year-old individual who crashed a stolen vehicle into a care facility during a police pursuit has pleaded guilty to causing serious harm. The incident at Highcliffe Care Home in Witherwack, Sunderland resulted in the deaths of two elderly residents in July. Sam Asgari-Tabar, without a permanent address, confessed to robbery for stealing a BMW 3-series and causing severe injuries through reckless driving, leading to spinal fractures for a resident.
Although he denied the accusation of kidnapping a woman who was in the BMW during a test drive, the Crown Prosecution Service requested more time to review the pleas. Co-defendant Ryan Parish, 21, from Sunderland, did not enter pleas for charges of robbery and kidnapping related to the same BMW and test drive.
The authorities were alerted to a stolen vehicle in Fenham, Newcastle, on the evening of July 10, and a suspect vehicle was sighted in the Sunderland area shortly after. A pursuit ensued, culminating in the BMW colliding with the care home, causing significant structural damage. Initially, eight residents required medical attention according to Northumbria Police.
Two days later, it was reported that a woman in her 90s and another woman in her 80s, who were not among the eight initially hospitalized, had passed away, with police investigations ongoing. Both defendants are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, August 19, where Judge Carolyn Scott instructed Parish to enter pleas at that time.