Fake police officer’s blue lights caused pensioner to crash into telegraph pole | UK News

A motorist ‘infatuated’ with emergency services who had fitted illegal blue lights to his car seriously injured an pensioner in a crash, a court heard.

Joshua Pembrocke was convicted of causing the crash in his Peugeot 208 which had a blue LED bar in the windscreen – a similar style used by emergency services.

Many drivers pulled over or moved out of the way of Pembrocke’s car because they thought he was a police officer in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, last April.

As he overtook other drivers at speeds of up to 50mph, Pembrocke, 24, failed to see a BMW turning right, forcing the car off the road and into a telegraph pole.

A woman in her 80s, who was the front passenger of the BMW, suffered serious injuries including a fractured sternum and collapsed lung.

Pembrocke admitted being the driver, claiming he had been distracted by a fly in the car and had tried to swat it away, later saying he was running late for a car show.

He claimed the blue lights were not activated when the crash happened and that he only used them for car shows – although witnesses described seeing the lights.

At a hearing at Cambridge magistrates’ court, he admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, with a second offence of using a blue warning beacon removed.

Pembrocke was sentenced at Huntingdon Law Courts on January 19 to two years in prison, suspended for two years and is disqualified from driving for four years.

Sentencing Judge David Farrell QC said Pembrocke had an ‘infatuation’ with emergency service vehicles which needed to be addressed.

Pembrocke’s Facebook cover photo is of a police car and the rest of his page has many photos of emergency service vehicles.

PC Nick Raouna said: ‘Pembrocke didn’t consider the safety of anyone else on the road when he drove dangerously.

‘His illegal use of blue lights deceived other drivers into thinking he was an emergency services vehicle – which is unacceptable.’

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