Two Cleveland officers and five young men killed in A66 crash

PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were killed when their marked police vehicle was involved in a collision with a Volkswagen Passat travelling in the wrong direction on the carriageway at around 3.39am on Saturday.

All five occupants of the Passat also died. They have been named as Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Cole Robert Worthy, 16, Jacob Matusiak, 23, and Makai Saddington, 18.

Cleveland Police said officers had been dealing with a suspicious vehicle before the collision. The vehicle was subsequently involved in a pursuit, which was ended before the fatal crash.

The circumstances surrounding the pursuit and the events leading up to the collision are now being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), following a mandatory referral by Cleveland Police.

The IOPC said its role would be to establish and examine the circumstances of what happened, with Cleveland Police cooperating with the investigation.

Cleveland Chief Constable Victoria Fuller said PC Blades and PC Clough were “brave officers” who had been protecting their communities and serving residents before they failed to return home to their families. She said the loss was being felt across the force, its communities and partner agencies.

The A66 was closed for several hours following the collision while emergency services dealt with the scene and investigations began.

The tragedy is one of the most serious fatal incidents involving police officers in recent years and comes as authorities in the UK and Ireland have expressed growing concern about dangerous driving by young people and the use of social media to encourage reckless behaviour.