Middlesbrough has been thrust into the spotlight after a surge in gang-related violence left nine people dead in five days, with new figures showing the Teesside town recorded the highest homicide rate in England and Wales.
Home Office data for 2025/26 shows Cleveland Police reported a homicide rate of 21.7 per million people, the highest among police force areas in that reporting year. Over the past 12 months, there were 23,419 crimes in Middlesbrough, translating to a crime rate of 150 crimes per 1,000 people.
Gangland turf war claims nine lives
Armed police from across northern England are being sent to help restore order on the streets of Middlesbrough after a surge in apparent tit-for-tat attacks left one of the smallest police forces in the country stretched to breaking point. The violence has centred on the Grangetown estate, described as the centre of the turf war.
This week, the deaths of two police officers – PCs Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38 – were followed by the fire-bombing of a house that killed a seven-year-old child. Little Valentina Foster and her aunt Natalie McDonald, 34, died in the fire. Another woman, 48, who was pulled from the burning building, remained in a critical condition in hospital.
Residents describe living in fear
One terrified local told The Sun: "It's like living in the Bronx." Local Kinga Misztal, 52, who lives just around the corner from the scene of the fatal fire, told the Mirror: "What is happening is just terrible. So many people have died. I was not scared after the accident but this is fire so bad and so close, it is dangerous now."
Andy Preston, who served as mayor of Middlesbrough from 2019 to 2023, described the town as England's crime capital where criminals can do 'what they want' and dominate the streets. He warned that ordinary people are now facing death threats, seeing guns shot at front doors and cars rammed into houses.
Community left devastated
Councillor Robert Clark, who represents the Teesville ward on Redcar and Cleveland Council, said it was "another incredibly difficult" time for their community. He wrote in a Facebook post: "I honestly don’t know how much more heartache our little town can take. After everything that has happened over the last few weeks, waking up to the awful scenes in Grangetown is just devastating."
Last year, shock Home Office figures showed 23,000 crimes were recorded in the town over the previous 12 month period, a rate of 158 offences for every 1,000 people. That figure represented a fall of 5% from the previous year, but it was still top of the list of shame, equivalent to one in every six people who live there falling victim to a crime.
