Some 200 extra police officers are being drafted in to support Cleveland Police after a series of violent incidents in Teesside, with a local MP saying residents are “not feeling safe” going to the shops.
The deployment follows a head-on crash on the A66 on Saturday that killed seven people, including two police officers, and a fatal house fire a mile away that claimed the lives of a seven-year-old girl and her aunt on Wednesday.
Residents feeling trapped
“People are saying that they are going to their shops and not feeling safe to do so and feeling trapped in their own homes,” Andy McDonald, the MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, told Times Radio on Thursday.
“That is just unacceptable. This is terrorism and we’ve got to have an appropriate response to deal with the people who are causing such mayhem in our communities and to allow people to lead their peaceful lives.”
Mr McDonald earlier told BBC Radio 4 there appeared to be a “causal link with organised crime”.
Additional support from national agencies
The extra officers have come from a number of forces, including the National Crime Agency, and are assisting as police continue to investigate the blaze in Grangetown, near Middlesbrough.
Alec Brown, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council, said more than 200 extra police officers have been, or will be, deployed from around the country to support Cleveland Police, and that he would be asking the Prime Minister for more support. He said officers were “working 20-hour days to ensure the ongoing safety of innocent residents”.
Anna Turley, MP for Redcar, said in a post on Facebook: “I know how worried people are, and understandably people want to know what is being done. There is a significant response under way, with additional officers and resources being brought into our area and agencies working together around the clock.” She added: “People have a right to feel safe in their homes and in their communities. That is our absolute priority.”
Further incidents and arrests
Residents told of their concerns after two more incidents in the same area on Thursday. A vehicle crashed into a wall outside a house in Steele Crescent, South Bank, in the early hours, and at about midday a 39-year-old was stabbed in nearby Sedgemoor Road, Eston.
A man who lives near the scene of the stabbing said people in the area were “trying to keep our heads down”. Referring to the postcode which covers Eston, 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.”
Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38, died in the head-on collision with a Volkswagen Passat on Saturday. Cole Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jakub Matusiak were also killed in the incident.
Police have arrested 17 people following the A66 crash, which followed a police pursuit, charging two of them and bailing the others, as part of investigations into alleged organised crime. Meanwhile, two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the fire which killed Natalie McDonald, 34, and seven-year-old Valentina Foster and injured four others.
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.”
Officers investigating the South Bank crash said they had not yet confirmed if it was linked to wider organised crime.
