Gye Worthy, 40, who attacked the celebrant at the funeral of an A66 crash victim, has been located by Cleveland Police after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Worthy failed to appear at Teesside Magistrates' Court, where he was due to be sentenced for assault, resisting arrest, and theft. Deputy District Judge Julia Baggs granted the prosecution's application for a warrant not backed by bail on Tuesday. The court heard Worthy had not contacted the court or his solicitors to explain his absence. The judge said: "In these circumstances, I do accept the application for a warrant not backed by bail." Later on Tuesday, Cleveland Police confirmed Worthy had been located.
Background to the offences
Worthy had previously admitted assaulting celebrant Paul Maull during the funeral service for Cole Worthy, 17, on September 9. At a hearing last month, he also admitted resisting arrest at the funeral service. Additionally, he admitted stealing four bottles of wine worth £30 from a shop on October 8; he pleaded guilty to theft two days later, and the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report.
The A66 crash
Cole Worthy and four friends were killed in a head-on collision with a marked police vehicle in the early hours of August 22 on the A66 at South Bank. They were in a VW Passat that had been in a pursuit with police, which was called off when the suspect vehicle went the wrong way down the dual carriageway. Seconds later, it collided head-on with a car containing Pc Tom Clough and Pc Matthew Blades. They were killed at the scene, along with Worthy, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and Michael Cahill, 23. Trouble was believed to have started earlier that night when a car rammed into Worthy's family home in Acklam.
