A driver and a passenger who crashed a stolen BMW into a care home killing two elderly residents has been jailed.
Sam Asgari-Tabar was behind the wheel of the car during a 100mph police chase when he crashed into Highcliffe Care Home in Sunderland in July.
The 21-year-old, along with Reece Parish, were taking a BMW for a test drive when they stole it, with a woman still inside the car.
Eight residents were treated in hospital for their injuries and two days later, a woman in her 90s and a woman in her 80s, neither of whom were in the eight taken to hospital, had died.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
A 94-year-old woman with dementia was among the elderly residents injured causing the floor of the upstairs lounge to collapse on top of her.
Police were alerted to the car, which was stolen in the Fenham area of Newcastle, and it was spotted in the Sunderland area 15 minutes later.
Asgari-Tabar has been jailed for five years and two months. Parish was jailed for 19 months.
(Picture: Northumbria Police/PA Wire)
Both men have pleaded guilty to stealing the BMW, and Asgari-Tabar admitted robbery and causing serious injury by dangerous driving to an elderly care home resident who suffered spinal fractures in the crash.
Parish was jailed for another 18 months for violent disorder in Sunderland during last summer’s riots.
Judge Stephen Earl said the case was one of the worst examples of dangerous driving he had seen in his career, adding: ‘It is amazing to me there was not more damage or injury.’
He added: ‘Many of the residents (who had dementia) were unable to comprehend that which has happened to them, other than the fear and shock it must have engendered in them as this appalling accident took place.’
Newcastle Crown Court previously heard that the two defendants went to check out the BMW, which was 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 eventually managed to remove her before speeding off again.
Police began to follow the pair and video played in court showed the pursuing officers reaching 100mph on residential streets in Sunderland to keep up.
It ultimately hit an exterior wall of Highcliffe Care Home, causing the ceiling to collapse.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
