A Volkswagen Passat driving the wrong way on the A66 near Middlesbrough collided head-on with a marked armed response vehicle in the early hours of Saturday, killing two police officers and five young men instantly, Cleveland Police have confirmed.
The crash happened at 3.39am on the eastbound carriageway near South Bank, east of Middlesbrough. The officers were named as PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38. The force said all seven people involved in the collision died at the scene.
Cleveland Police said the Passat was travelling in the wrong direction when it struck the police car. The five people in the Volkswagen have been formally identified as Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, and two 17-year-olds, Theo Rae and Cole Robert Worthy.
The families of all five young men have been informed. Their names are published in the public interest given the scale of the incident and the ongoing IOPC investigation.
IOPC Opens Investigation Into Pursuit and Collision Timeline
The Independent Office for Police Conduct has opened a mandatory investigation, which is standard practice when officers die during a response incident. It said its work will examine both a police pursuit and what happened immediately afterwards.
The IOPC has said the collision occurred roughly ten seconds after the pursuit of the Volkswagen was called off, a timeline the watchdog says is provisional and has not been independently verified. The police car involved in the crash was not the vehicle engaged in the pursuit, but another marked car that was in the area.
Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller, speaking outside force headquarters, called it 'an incredibly sad day for Cleveland' and said the loss was being felt 'across our communities, by our police family and by our partner agencies', describing PCs Blades and Clough as 'brave officers, protecting our communities and serving our residents, who didn't return home to their families at the end of their shift', and said she and the deputy chief constable had visited both families in person.
'Our Hero' Families and Political Leaders Pay Tribute To Fallen Officers
The family of PC Tom Clough, who served with Cleveland Police after a spell in the armed forces, described him as 'our hero'. 'He was our hero with a fantastic sense of humour. He jumped into action whenever needed, and was willing to help anyone for any reason,' they said, adding he had 'proudly fought for his country to make the world a better place'. Cleveland Police said a formal tribute to PC Matthew Blades would be released at a later date.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to support both officers' families, with donations to be split equally between them. Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a statement expressing his sadness and sending condolences to the families of those who died.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said his thoughts were with 'those officers killed in the line of duty', and stressed that the police and the IOPC 'must be given the time and space to complete their investigations without speculation'. Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen described the crash as 'a horrible and tragic incident' and called the officers 'heroes'.
Cleveland's Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey said the collision was 'very upsetting for everyone involved' and 'horrendous', adding that it was 'best not to speculate at this point' and that his 'heart goes out' to the families of both the officers and the five young men in the Volkswagen.
