A detective has admitted that criminal gangs are "making a statement" as Middlesbrough was thrown into turmoil in a spree of violence that left nine people dead in less than a week.
In the early hours of today, yet another house was targeted in a ramming attack on Steele Crescent, South Bank, just two miles from where seven-year-old Valentina Foster and her aunt Natalie McDonald died in a house fire. That fire followed a fatal collision on the A66 that left seven people dead, two of them police officers.
Police officers killed in A66 crash
Police officers PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were killed in the early hours of Saturday. An inquest today revealed that the officers died from head and neck injuries after a Passat, travelling the wrong-way down a dual carriageway, collided with their marked vehicle.
PC Blades' wife had the heart-wrenching task of identifying her husband, while PC Clough's partner identified him, the inquest heard.
A detective who served in the area for years told the Mirror: "This is not about the damage caused but about the message it sends. It is the criminal gangs making a statement - just hours after a child has died, they are willing to take the risk of being caught."
Police investigate possible gang link
Cleveland Police have acknowledged that the deaths of Valentina and her aunt could be connected to "organised crime gangs". Four of the five members of the public who died in the A66 had criminal records and witnesses near the home of one, 17-year-old Cole Worthy, said he had "fallen out with a gang rival".
Worthy, along with Theo Rae, 17; Makai Saddington, 18; and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak were in the Passat and were declared dead at the scene in South Bank.
Worthy's father's home was ram-raided at 3am on Saturday, just 40 minutes prior to the catastrophic A66 crash. It is alleged that a Volvo XC60 was used, and this vehicle is now pivotal to the police investigation into the tragedy.
Locals terrified by troubled past
The home belonging to Cole's father is situated on a street in the suburb of Acklam, filled with hard-working families shocked by the fallout of the alleged drug turf war.
Police are investigating whether Cole Worthy and the young men in the Passat chased the Volvo to execute a revenge attack following damage to his dad's house.
Locals in Acklam recalled the property's lengthy and troubled past, stating Cole and his associates were frequently spotted on the street.
The house had suffered damage repeatedly in recent years, with windows smashed and police summoned "on a regular basis". Cole hurled abuse at residents and was witnessed under the influence of drugs, on at least one occasion, nearby homes were mistakenly targeted.
One Acklam resident, who lived there for decades, stated: "It was well known that Cole had fallen out with a gang rival."
They added: "We know his name and so does everyone else around here. This goes back years. The people who live near his dad have been tortured by this for a long time."
"Ruskin Avenue is a lovely street full of good, hard-working people. But the woman living two doors down had her windows put out because two women targeted the wrong property."
The resident continued: "Police were frustrated in their attempts to stop it. One officer apparently told a neighbour that they knew Cole was taking drugs inside the property. But they couldn't do anything about it unless there was evidence of intent to supply. If you confronted him when he was high on drugs, you got nothing but abuse."
"People were scared to do anything about it in the end, even to go to the authorities. Obviously they were afraid of retribution and intimidation. So the gangs win."
Another resident remarked: "One house went up for sale but they were struggling to sell it because of all this. Imagine trying to sell it now? The houses usually sell for around £220,000 here. Not much chance of that now."
Cole attended the neighbourhood comprehensive school and "everyone knew he was in a gang," according to another local.
Another commented: "His dad's house has been rammed three, four, five times. The police were there regularly."
"People are afraid to speak out in case they are targeted for retribution. Given what has happened, you can hardly blame them."
Tributes and community impact
Tributes have poured in for Natalie, 34, and her seven-year-old niece, Valentina, after their deaths in the blaze in Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, during the early hours of Wednesday.
Ms McDonald's heartbroken brother Josh Kirton today said: "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."
Hundreds of floral tributes remain beside the carriageway at the A66 crash site, just over a mile from the arson attack location. Residents there claim the collision resulted from a "turf war" between competing criminal families.
Throughout the past year, residents in the Teesside region encountered the greatest danger of being killed.
Middlesbrough recorded 23,419 offences during the previous 12 months, resulting in a crime rate of 150 offences per 1,000 residents.
Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey stated the statistics mirror his belief that the Government must take immediate action to tackle "years of chronic underfunding" in policing throughout the region.
Kinga Misztal, 52, relocated to England from her homeland Poland 20 years ago and operates her own construction company alongside her husband Tomasz, 53. Their children are adults now, yet their road sits mere metres from where the deadly blaze occurred, taking the lives of Valentina and Natalie.
Kinga stated: "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 held the position of Middlesbrough's mayor from 2019 to 2023, is concerned matters could intensify in the wake of the fire.
He stated: "From this awful point, things could escalate or peter out. Escalation will be carnage and further wound the communities that are already on their knees."
Councillor Robert Clark, representing the Teesville ward of Redcar and Cleveland Council, described it as "another incredibly difficult" period for their community.
In a Facebook post, he wrote: "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."
