Police Officers Killed in A66 Crash Amid Organised Crime Probe
Inquests open into deaths of PCs Matthew Blades and Tom Clough; investigation links fatal collision to wider criminal activity.
Carla Rooney
Two Cleveland Police officers died Saturday when a wrong-way driver struck their vehicle on the A66.
The Passat carried Cole Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, Michael Robert Cahill, 23, and Jacob Matusiak, 23. Area Coroner for Teesside and Hartlepool, Paul Appleton, opened inquests into the officers' deaths at Teesside Coroner's Court.
Appleton confirmed an "aborted" police pursuit preceded the fatal crash. He stated, "At this stage it is understood that there had been a police pursuit of the Volkswagen Passat."
At this stage it is understood that there had been a police pursuit of the Volkswagen Passat.
The officers involved were "not directly involved in the prior pursuit," Appleton added. The Passat "entered the A66 carriageway against the flow of traffic, at which stage the pursuit was aborted."
"A short time after, the Volkswagen Passat collided with a police vehicle, which had not been directly involved in the prior pursuit," Appleton stated. The five youths in the Passat collectively held 37 previous convictions; Michael Robert Cahill was the only one without a criminal record.
Police claim the five young men in the Passat may have had links to "serious and organised criminal activity." Cleveland Police cannot rule out links to wider organised crime at this time, though Emily Harrison claims such connections have not yet been confirmed.
Cleveland Police indicated that Cleveland Police cannot rule out links to wider organised crime at this time.
A fundraising appeal for the officers' families has surpassed £1m. Pocket Sergeant reportedly raised an additional £48,000.
A silent vigil was held at St John The Evangelist Church to pay tribute to the two police officers. Separate inquest openings are scheduled for the five occupants of the Passat, aged between 17 and 23.
Cleveland Police are investigating potential links between the A66 crash, a vehicle crashing into a wall at Steele Crescent, South Bank, and a house fire in Grangetown. A vehicle crashed into a wall outside a house on Steele Crescent, South Bank, in the early hours of Thursday morning; the house was empty at the time, and no injuries were reported.
Two people, Valentina Foster, 7, and Natalie McDonald, 34, died in a house fire in Grangetown on Wednesday. Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the Grangetown house fire.
Cleveland Police would not rule out a link between the blaze at an end-of-terrace property in Birchington Avenue, Grangetown, and the crash at South Bank on Saturday morning. Seventeen arrests have been made in relation to the crash as investigations continue.