×
GreekEnglish

×
  • Politics
  • Diaspora
  • World
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Cooking
Wednesday
14
Jan 2026
weather symbol
Athens 11°C
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • World
  • Diaspora
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Mediterranean Cooking
  • Weather
Contact follow Protothema:
Powered by Cloudevo
> World

Driver dials 999 during Newcastle police chase and says “abort or I’ll drive off bridge”

The call handler tells Birch to pull over but he refuses, accelerating the vehicle and ending the call

Newsroom August 4 12:10

A dangerous driver who rang 999 during a police pursuit and ordered the officers to stop following him could be facing jail.

Samuel Birch, 30, admitted a string of driving offences linked to the police chase in Newcastle on 29 March this year.

In footage, Birch is heard telling call handlers he had a “minor” in his silver Vauxhall Corsa and would drive off a bridge if they didn’t “abort the chase now”.

He was also seeing driving on the wrong side of the road, ignoring red lights and holding his phone out of the window, which officers said was a tactic to record the pursuit.

See Also:

Turkish aggression is NATO’s “Elephant in the Room”

“Murder hornets” trapped in US for first time as officials race to eradicate colonies before breeding season

>Related articles

Tuesday the 13th: Why everyone thinks it’s bad luck

South Korea prosecutors seek death penalty for former President Yoon Suk Yeol

Parliamentary elections set for April 12 in Hungary as Orbán appears weakened in polls

The call handler tells Birch to pull over but he refuses, accelerating the vehicle and ending the call.

Birch was stopped moments later outside St James’ Park, where officers found that there was no child with him, as he claimed.

Read more: Sky News

Ask me anything

Explore related questions

#car chase#hot persuit#police#UK#world
> More World

Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr

> Latest Stories

Giannis Antetokounmpo gets angry at Bucks fans’ boos: He booed them back from the court

January 14, 2026

“Traitor”: They vandalized tractors of farmers who went to the meeting with Mitsotakis at the Nikaia blockade, see pictures

January 14, 2026

Olive oil: How the market system inflates prices

January 14, 2026

Arrested 22-year-old man who was running at 167 km on the National Road of Thessaloniki – Moudania

January 14, 2026

Karystianou: Out of the Tempi Victims’ Association, with criticism toward relatives over finances: “I remain silent so as not to expose you”

January 14, 2026

Critical White House meeting on Greenland amid Trump’s threats to take over the island

January 14, 2026

The development plan for buildings on Alexandra Avenue has been launched

January 14, 2026

At least 2,571 people killed in repression of protests in Iran, according to human rights organisations

January 14, 2026
All News

> Politics

Karystianou: Out of the Tempi Victims’ Association, with criticism toward relatives over finances: “I remain silent so as not to expose you”

Maria Karystianou alleges that there was a refusal to publish the financial statements of the Tempi Association, saying that she “remained silent so as not to expose the members of the Board.” “She did not resign; she was forced out,” says Georgiadis

January 14, 2026

“We will not go far with the blockades, we will find smart solutions”: The background and the dialogues in Mitsotakis’ discussion with farmers, what they gained

January 14, 2026

What farmers gained from the meeting with Mitsotakis: The package for electricity, fuel, and income support – The message to the “hardliners” at the roadblocks

January 13, 2026

Mitsotakis at meeting with farmers opens the way for meaningful dialogue on the future of the primary sector

January 13, 2026

Karachalios responds to Karystianou: She is a serial liar, I have 600 messages, Gratsia and the elderly woman have “bewitched” her

January 13, 2026
Homepage
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY COOKIES POLICY TERM OF USE
Powered by Cloudevo
Copyright © 2026 Πρώτο Θέμα