A fatal crash on the A66 that killed seven people, including two police officers, may have been sparked by a fallout between two teenage rival gang members, according to reports. Police believe the collision may have been triggered by a revenge mission linked to a ram-raid on the home of one of the victims' fathers.
Fatal Collision Details
PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37, died when a Volkswagen Passat travelling the wrong way down a dual carriageway collided with their marked police vehicle. Cole Worthy and Theo Rae, both 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak also died at the scene in the Passat.
Cole Worthy's father's home in Acklam, Middlesbrough, was ram-raided by a Volvo XC60 at 3am last Saturday, just 40 minutes before the A66 crash. According to the Mirror, Cole Worthy is thought to have set off on a revenge mission to track down the Volvo XC60, believing a gang rival was involved in the attack on his dad's home. A graffiti message 'RIP CW' was scrawled on shops in Trimdon Avenue near to where Mr Worthy grew up, with an abusive message to police.
Investigation and Organised Crime Links
It is understood Mr Cahill, one of the five who died in the Passat, had links to a notorious organised crime group based in the North East. A member of that group attended the vigil held on the outskirts of Haswell, County Durham on Thursday night for Mr Cahill, 18 miles from the A66 tragedy scene. Five cars, including what was believed to be a stolen £80,000 Porsche Cayenne, were burned out on a farmer's field before being removed.
One source told the Mirror: "They are a serious organised crime gang who have been operational in the region for many years. They are major players in drug supply and serious criminal activity." Another source added: "They use youths as their foot soldiers as they know those teenagers won't be police informants. Their youth gives organised groups that protection."
Police Response and Arrests
The five who died in the Passat were said to be involved in a drug turf war in Grangetown. Cleveland Police's Assistant Chief Constable Wayne Fox described their probe into the events as "a fast moving and complex investigation, with significant links to serious and organised criminal activity." He added: "The events of that tragic night will have a lasting and profound impact on the Cleveland area and the communities we seek to protect. We have a duty to respond to, and thoroughly investigate, the serious criminal activity that resulted in this fatal incident, and to bring all those responsible to justice."
The total number of suspects arrested since the crash now stands at 24. More than 200 extra officers were drafted in to support Cleveland Police. They arrived as six police vehicles and an ambulance were called to an incident in Thornaby, and officers responded to a machete attack in Grangetown, the area at the centre of the drugs turf war. The increase in officers 'on the ground' was designed to reassure the public.
Community and Political Reaction
Anna Turley, MP for Redcar, said the scenes of vehicles being driven dangerously across fields and then set alight at a vigil for one of the men who died in the A66 crash were "completely unacceptable". She said: "It puts lives at risk, places even more pressure on our already stretched emergency services and leaves residents frightened and angry in their own communities. After everything our area has endured over the past week, I will not accept this kind of behaviour becoming normalised."
Labour MP Andy McDonald told the Mirror that the force needed more long term funding. He said: "The change in full time police officers between 2010 and 2025 showed Surrey had the biggest rise in funding while Cleveland was rock bottom. It was a real terms cut. There is multiple deprivation in Teesville in TS6 and TS3 and we have to understand why. The true nature of the problem has to be understood; you cannot condemn an entire community."
Durham Constabulary condemned the behaviour of the torching of the vehicles at the vigil for Cahill. Assistant Chief Constable Jon McAdam, of Durham Constabulary, said: "The behaviour we saw at last night's gathering was completely unacceptable. Our officers and the communities of County Durham and Darlington were understandably horrified by the tragedy which unfolded on the A66 last week which resulted in multiple deaths, including two serving police officers."
Assistant Chief Constable Dave Sutherland, head of local policing in Cleveland, said they were not linking the fatal fire in Grangetown to the fatal collision on the A66. He added: "Our thoughts remain with all those affected by these incidents as we continue our investigation into what happened." Officers from Durham, North, West and South Yorkshire and Northumbria have been called in to tackle the gangland violence.
