Two police officers who were forced to retire through injuries they suffered when a brick was thrown through the windscreen of their patrol car have won damages from their own force.

Former Constables John Robinson and Michael Mohon were lured to the Pennywell area of Sunderland as they chased a stolen car in February 1993 and were pelted with missiles by a group of waiting youths, Newcastle High Court heard.

Mr Robinson, 44, was lucky to survive after suffering serious head injuries when the brick crashed through the windscreen, while Mr Mohon suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Both men were retired on medical grounds.

The officers claimed that Northumbria Police should have fitted reinforced windscreens to patrol cars to counter the area's known trend for "bricking a bobby'', which had started four years previously.

Mr Recorder Shaun Spencer found in favour of the claimants, but postponed judgment on costs until a later hearing.

He said Northumbria Police should have acted earlier to the threat of serious injury, as incidents of bricking were well documented.

Two weeks after the incident, tests were carried out on the windscreens, which were the standard laminated models fitted by the car manufacturer, to see what impact they could withstand.

Tests showed that at 50mph, a brick would crash through a windscreen, as it had done with Mr Robinson, the court heard.

Within seven months of the incident, Northumbria Police had approved a £185,000 scheme to fit 250 vehicles with windscreens which could withstand brick impact at 80mph.

Mr Recorder Spencer said the speed with which the change was implemented, with technology which was readily available, showed that safety precautions should have already been introduced.

The court heard that in a previous hearing, police chiefs said they did not have time to implement the safety changes before the incident, but Mr Recorder Spencer disagreed, saying something should have been done earlier, as bricking had been first documented in 1989.

He refused permission to appeal against the judgment.

Mr Robinson's solicitor, Philip Andrews, said the former officer's personality has changed since the accident as part of his brain had been removed. He added Mr Robinson had completed a college course and was hoping to secure a job within the electronics industry.

Mr Mohon declined to comment.