PC Mark Roberts was answering a call for a choking baby when he knocked Muriel Pinkney, 74, off her motorbike in Gateshead.

A police officer who struck a 74-year-old woman on a motorbike after speeding through a red light on a 999 call has been convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.

PC Mark Roberts, 57, was answering an emergency call for a choking baby when he crashed into Ronald and Muriel Pinkney in Gateshead in July 2022.

Teesside Crown Court heard on Wednesday how Roberts was doing 43mph on a 30mph road as he approached the lights, which had been red for six seconds.

He had slowed to around 25mph when his marked Northumbria Police Peugeot 308 crashed into the married couple.

Both pensioners were knocked from their bike. Mr Pinkney, now 81, sustained a bleed on the brain and multiple fractures, but survived.

Mrs Pinkney sustained head and neck injuries, and was later pronounced dead.