Cars, including an £80,000 Porsche Cayenne, were set alight at a memorial event for Michael Cahill, 23, who died in the A66 crash, as gang-related violence continues to grip Teesside.
Footage shared online shows a number of vehicles on fire in a field near Haswell, County Durham, where crowds released balloons at the vigil for Cahill, one of five men who died when a Volkswagen Passat crashed into a police car on the A66 on Saturday, August 22.
Eyewitnesses said the Porsche was set alight on the outskirts of Haswell during the vigil, around 18 miles from the crash scene. By this morning, all vehicles had been removed, with aerial shots showing scorched earth where five cars had been burned.
Nine deaths in five days
The turf war has claimed nine lives in five days, following the deaths of seven people, including two police officers, in the collision between a marked police vehicle and a Volkswagen Passat near Middlesbrough. On Wednesday, Valentina Foster, 7, and her aunt Natalie McDonald, 34, were killed in a house fire in Grangetown, Teesside. Two men, aged 23 and 31, have since been arrested on suspicion of murder.
At noon on Thursday, a 39-year-old man was stabbed on the Bankfields estate in Eston, Middlesbrough, only two miles from the scene of the fatal crash. Hours earlier, a house was rammed by a “jeep-type car” in South Bank, according to a neighbour.
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.”
Police response and arrests
Cleveland Police said a woman remains in the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in a critical condition, with three others receiving treatment for non-life-threatening injuries. The force said: “We are keeping an open mind and cannot rule out any links to wider organised crime at this time.”
Police have arrested 17 people in connection with the A66 crash. On Monday, 12 people were arrested, including a 24-year-old man on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group and possession of an offensive weapon, released on conditional bail, and a 19-year-old man charged with possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. On Tuesday, a further five arrests were made, including a 16-year-old boy on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group, released on conditional bail.
More than 200 extra police officers have been deployed from around the country to support Cleveland Police, including officers from Northumbria Police, Durham Constabulary, Humberside Police, and the National Crime Agency.
Community fears and political response
Andy McDonald, Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, told Times Radio: “People are saying that they are going to their shops and not feeling safe to do so and feeling trapped in their own homes. 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.”
Alec Brown, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council, said he had written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham to thank the Government for additional resources but asking for more. He said: “We’ve had nine deaths in the space of six days, starting with that horrific A66 crash. To lose nine lives with such close proximity of each other…. that’s led to people feeling unsafe in their own homes.” He added: “One loss is tragic – nine is unbelievable to deal with.”
Figures show the area covered by Cleveland Police has the highest crime rate in England and Wales, with 123.4 recorded crimes per 1,000 population in the year to March 2026, ahead of West Yorkshire (107.9), Greater Manchester (103.7), and the Metropolitan Police (101.0). Cleveland also tops the list for shoplifting (15.9 per 1,000), criminal damage and arson (15.0 per 1,000), violence with injury (12.6 per 1,000), burglary (6.1 per 1,000), and sexual offences (5.0 per 1,000).
