The brother of a woman who died in a house fire that also killed a seven-year-old girl has said she was not associated with gangs. Investigations were continuing into the blaze in Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, which was only a mile away from the scene of a head-on collision that killed two police officers and five young men on Saturday.
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder in relation to the fire that took the lives of Natalie McDonald, 34, and seven-year-old Valentina Foster, as well as injuring four others. Cleveland Police is trying to establish whether the A66 crash was linked to the fire in Birchington Avenue.
Brother's tribute to sister
Ms McDonald's brother Josh Kirton told reporters: “My sister was not involved with anything to do with gangs, or the (crash on the) A66. That’s what makes this so senseless. People think they can do whatever they like. There’s some terrible people in the world and now my sister and Valentina have gone.”
Tributes have been left outside the house, with a photo of the pair left among the bouquets and toys with the words: “RIP Natalie and Valentina you will be missed.” A Care Bear toy was left, along with a teddy bear and a note that said: “Now she dances with butterflies Valentina.” Another message said: “Valentina what a lovely young girl, so sad, RIP.”
Police investigate ramming incidents
Meanwhile, police continued to investigate why a property on Steele Crescent, South Bank, was rammed in the early hours of Thursday morning. Local policing Superintendent Emily Harrison said: “The property was empty at the time and we have not currently received any reports of any injuries. Officers are conducting inquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding this incident. Our investigation is in its early stages and it has not yet been confirmed whether this incident is linked to wider organised crime.”
On Thursday morning, inquests were opened into the deaths of two police officers who were killed when their marked vehicle was hit by a car going the wrong way down the A66. Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38, died in a head-on collision with a Volkswagen Passat on Saturday.
Inquests into crash deaths
Teesside Coroners’ Court heard that “all occupants of both vehicles were sadly pronounced dead at the scene”. In short, consecutive hearings, coroner Paul Appleton said Pc Blades was identified by his wife, and Pc Clough by his partner. The provisional cause of death was said to be head and neck injuries for Pc Blades, and neck injuries for Pc Clough.
Mr Appleton said: “At this stage it is understood that there had been a police pursuit of the Volkswagen Passat. It 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.”
In the afternoon, inquests were opened into the deaths of the young men in the Passat – Cole Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jakub Matusiak, named by police as Jacob. In separate hearings, Mr Appleton said that the young men were identified through fingerprint analysis. The causes of death were said to be neck injuries for Mr Matusiak, head and torso injuries for Mr Cahill, head injuries for Mr Saddington and Mr Rae, and head and chest injuries for Mr Worthy.
Wider incidents and response
A man is receiving treatment after he was assaulted on Thursday with a bladed weapon in Eston, some two miles away from the fatal crash on the A66 in Middlesbrough on Saturday. In a statement, Cleveland Police said: “A 39-year-old man is receiving treatment following an assault involving a bladed weapon in an address on Sedgemoor Road in Eston around midday today (Thursday 27th August). No arrests have been made at this time, however, enquiries are ongoing into the incident.”
A man living near the scene of the stabbing in Eston said: “A bloke got stabbed and the street was full of armed police, the helicopter came, the lot.” Referring to the postcode which covers Eston and Grangetown and South Bank, among other areas, he said: “TS6 has gone mad, it’s brutal. We are just trying to keep our heads down.”
Hartlepool United has said it will hold a two minutes’ silence for the police officers at its home fixture against Eastleigh on Friday. Andy Burnham said the Government is offering “all of the support that the authorities need” after the “terribly tragic” house fire. Asked about the incidents, the Prime Minister told reporters during a visit to South Wales: “Obviously we’re offering all of the support that the authorities need. The important thing, it’s a terribly tragic event that’s happened with the loss of a young woman and her seven-year-old niece.”
He continued: “Utterly devastating, and I’m sure there’s a whole community that is grieving, not just what happened at the weekend, and particularly we should stress our deepest respect for the police officers lost in the line of duty and sending our sympathies to their families. And we will obviously make sure that the support is there for them going forward.”
Police have arrested 17 people following the A66 crash, charging two of them and bailing the others, as part of investigations into alleged organised crime. The Passat had been pursued by police following an earlier incident in which a house in the Acklam area of Middlesbrough, linked to Worthy, was rammed by a vehicle. Police have previously said the five young men in the Passat may have had links to “serious and organised criminal activity” and four of them have previous convictions.
Former Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston said the string of incidents in the area was “heartbreaking to see – not just the loss of life, but the further scarring of once proud communities”. He said: “More incidents are happening and it looks like they’re related. Everyone’s praying that this peters out. If it doesn’t, more innocent lives could be at risk.”
