New details released about A66 crash that killed seven people including two police officers
New details have today been confirmed about a crash that saw a car speed the wrong way down a dual carriageway and kill seven people.
Two police officers on duty died in the crash on the A66 in Middlesbrough in the early hours of Saturday (22 August).
On-duty officers PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, both died in the horror collision, Cleveland Police tragically confirmed.
Five young men in the offending vehicle also died in the collision, and they have all since been named and pictured as Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Cole Robert Worthy, 16, Jacob Matusiak, 23, and Makai Saddington, 18.
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The car, a Volkswagen Passat, was seen on Ring doorbell footage being followed by two police cars on blue lights before it went the wrong way down the A-road and crash minutes later.
New details revealed about fatal crash
In a fresh update on Sunday (23 August), the watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, confirmed new details about the case, which is still being investigated.
It revealed that officers had aborted the pursuit of the car, which was believed to be using cloned plates, before it then crashed into a different police vehicle that was not directly involved in the pursuit.
The watchdog said that Cleveland Police had been informed about 'numerous incidents' that were linked to a Volkswagen Passat. The Passat, which contained the five young men, was later sighted and an armed response vehicle began a pursuit of the vehicle.
According to the IOPC, analysis of the police vehicle's in-car footage showed the pursuit lasted just under seven minutes before the Passat travelled onto the A66 in South Bank, against the flow of traffic.
This is when the pursuit was aborted by officers who continued to travel on the correct side of the carriageway.
A short time after the pursuit ended, around ten seconds later, investigators said the Passat collided directly with another police vehicle, containing PC Blades and PC Clough, who died at the scene.
Their vehicle was not involved in the pursuit but was on patrol in the area to assist in a search for the Passat believed to be using cloned plates that had activated an ANPR camera.
IOPC Director of Engagement Derrick Campbell said: “Our thoughts continue to be with the family and friends and all those affected by yesterday’s collision., We recognise the devastating impact the incident has had on those in the force, and the wider policing community, and offer our condolences.
“We have obtained initial accounts of officers involved in the pursuit, the incident log and in car footage of the incident. Work is ongoing to obtain additional material.
“IOPC investigators will continue to review and analyse all the evidence that is available to us. We will not be providing any further comment at this time."
'Brave' police officers remembered
Tributes have also since poured in for the two 'brave' police officers, PC Blades and Clough, who died.
In a statement to reporters on Saturday afternoon, Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller said: “These were brave officers protecting our communities and serving our residents who didn’t return home to their families at the end of their shift.”
Meanwhile, Anna Turley, MP for the Redcar constituency where the accident happened, said on Sunday morning the 'whole community is reeling here today'.
She told Sky News: “I want to particularly put on record my tribute to our incredibly brave police officers, PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough, because we know our police officers every day, every night put themselves into action to protect our communities, to keep them safe.
“And I want to acknowledge their bravery, but I also want to recognise that we’ve lost seven lives tragically and the whole community is obviously in shock and devastation.”
Cleveland Police Federation chairwoman Lauren Somerville said: “Words cannot describe the pain the Cleveland Police family are feeling today.
"Our colleagues who should have been going home to their loved ones at the end of their shifts are not. And that is just unfathomable.”
The tragedy prompted other police forces to send their condolences. Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said the loss of two dedicated officers 'is felt profoundly across the entire policing family'.
Sussex Police Chief Constable Jo Shiner said 'the impact of this tragedy will be felt by many across the country', while the Metropolitan Police said the loss of Pc Blades and Pc Clough would be 'acutely felt across the policing family, particularly by those who had the privilege of serving alongside both officers'.
James Holt