A GWENT Police officer could be sacked after he was found guilty by a jury of seriously injuring a married couple in a road crash.

PC Geraint York, 45, from Blaenavon was convicted of careless driving following a collision on the A465 in Monmouthshire between Abergavenny and Llantilio Pertholey.

He was cleared of the far more serious charge of dangerous driving after a trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

The officer was driving a Kia Sorento SUV towing a caravan when he crashed head-on into William Davies and Farzeen Hashmi after being on the wrong side of the road.

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York was not on duty at the time of the incident which happened at around 11.25am on the morning of Saturday, October 9, 2021.

Jurors were shown dashcam footage of York overtaking a vehicle before he hit the couple who were travelling in a Hyundai Getz.

They were also shown police bodycam footage of the defendant telling an officer who had just arrived at the scene that he had overtaken to avoid parked cars.

Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, said Mr Davies needed surgery after he suffered a broken back, fractured ribs and a “smashed” left knee.

His wife also needed hospital treatment after she sustained injuries that included whiplash.

York’s barrister Nigel Fryer said after the verdicts that his client faced the possibility of losing his job with Gwent Police.

He added: “The defendant has just gone through a difficult divorce.”

Judge Paul Hobson said careless driving was not an imprisonable offence and attracted penalty points or a short period of disqualification.

He told York: “One thing this demonstrates is the huge responsibility that we all have as drivers on the road.

“Inattention by a driver, even for a short period of time, can have devastating consequences.

“You and nobody else was to blame for this collision.

“I’m convinced you took your eyes off the road for a few seconds where a collision was unavoidable.

“You caused very serious injury to not one but two people.”

Judge Hobson said his sympathies were with the victims.

“The court wishes them well in their recovery,” he added.

York, of Llanover Road, was ordered to pay £750 prosecution costs and a £450 fine.

His driving record was endorsed with six penalty points.

A Gwent Police spokesperson said: "We will review the outcome to assess whether any misconduct action is required.

"Our professional standards investigation is ongoing."