A66 crash: 17 arrested after seven killed including two police officers near Middlesbrough
Five more arrests bring the total to 17 over Saturday's A66 crash near Middlesbrough, in which a wrong-way car killed two officers and five occupants.
Seventeen arrested over fatal A66 wrong-way collision that claimed seven lives
Five further arrests have been made by detectives investigating the A66 crash near Middlesbrough that killed seven people, including two police officers, The Guardian UK reports. The latest detentions bring the total number of people arrested in connection with the incident to 17.
PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, died on Saturday after a Volkswagen Passat — which had been under police pursuit — was driven the wrong way along the dual carriageway and struck their marked armed response vehicle. All five occupants of the pursued car also died at the scene: Cole Robert Worthy, 17; Theo Rae, 17; Makai Saddington, 18; Michael Robert Cahill, 23; and Jacob Matusiak, 23.
Cleveland Police has said the five had links to "serious and organised criminal activity", and that four of them carried a combined total of 37 previous convictions, including for possession of a bladed article, car theft, drug possession, racially aggravated intentional harassment, and numerous driving offences.
Twelve arrested on Monday, five more on Tuesday
On Monday, Cleveland Police announced that 12 people — nine men and three women — had been detained after officers received multiple reports of two vehicles, the VW Passat and a Volvo XC60, being driven dangerously at the time of the crash. Four of those 12 were arrested on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group, four on suspicion of possessing a firearm, and four on suspicion of possessing class A and B drugs with intent to supply.
Two of the 12 have since appeared before the courts. Kai Beattie, 19, appeared at Teesside magistrates court charged with possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. Cameron George, 26, was remanded in custody to face Teesside crown court on 21 September, charged with drugs offences and possession of criminal property.
The five arrested on Tuesday comprised a 16-year-old boy, an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old man — all on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group — along with a 55-year-old on suspicion of assisting an offender and a 23-year-old on suspicion of making threats to kill.
Police Federation warns of social media 'baiting'
The crash has intensified scrutiny of a growing trend in which young people post videos online of cars being driven dangerously, often during police pursuits. Paul Williams, acting deputy national chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, told BBC Breakfast the phenomenon had become a "real problem" for officers.
"Every day we can identify now numerous examples of young people sensationalising dangerous driving. Not just dangerous driving, but baiting police officers who are out there to protect the public," Williams said. He added that officers should not have to worry about whether they would return home from their shift, and called on social media platforms to take action.
Road safety statistics to 2025 point to a rising trend in fatal dangerous driving among young people, particularly young men. Seventy-seven people aged between 16 and 20 died in road incidents last year, up from 65 the previous year and 55 in 2016 — the largest increase of any age group.
The government has signalled its intention to press social media companies to remove content encouraging dangerous driving. A Downing Street spokesperson said on Monday that No 10 would give the regulator Ofcom its "full backing to take tough action" against sites and apps that fail to moderate or remove such material.
Similar incidents elsewhere in the UK and Ireland
The Middlesbrough crash is one of several fatal police-pursuit incidents in the United Kingdom in recent weeks. On Tuesday, a crash following a police chase in Warwickshire left one man dead and a woman hospitalised.
In Ireland last week, a car carrying five teenagers drove into a group of people on the M9 in County Kildare while evading Garda, hospitalising four individuals including a seven-year-old boy. All five teenagers in the car died.
A fundraiser established by the Cleveland Police Federation for the families of Blades and Clough has surpassed £942,000 in donations.
Source: The Guardian UK