Third property rammed in Middlesbrough amid gang war fears after A66 crash

Police are investigating a vehicle ramming a house on Steele Crescent, South Bank, near the scenes of two deadly incidents that killed nine people.

Another house rammed in South Bank as gang war fears grip Middlesbrough

Cleveland Police are investigating a vehicle deliberately driven into the wall of a property on Steele Crescent, South Bank, Middlesbrough, in the early hours of Thursday morning. The Daily Express reports that the incident occurred close to two recent scenes of fatal violence in the area.

Officers were called to the address after 12:30am. Superintendent Emily Harrison confirmed the property was unoccupied at the time and that no injuries had been reported.

"Officers are conducting enquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding this incident," Harrison said. "Our investigation is in its early stages and it has not yet been confirmed whether this incident is linked to wider organised crime."

A neighbour told the Daily Mail that her daughter witnessed the attack, describing a car that "kept going backwards and forwards into the wall over and over."

The ramming follows a similar incident in the Acklam area of Middlesbrough prior to the fatal A66 crash last Saturday, in which seven people died. That home reportedly belonged to the father of Cole Worthy, 17, one of five young men killed when a Volkswagen Passat travelling the wrong way struck a Cleveland Police armed response vehicle. Reports suggest the group had set out in the vehicle after the Acklam house was rammed.

Also killed in the A66 collision were Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, Michael Robert Cahill, 23, and Jacob Matusiak, 23. The two police officers in the armed response vehicle, PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37, were also pronounced dead at the scene.

A separate house fire in nearby Grangetown claimed the lives of a seven-year-old girl and her aunt. Cleveland Police said it has not been confirmed whether the latest Steele Crescent ramming is connected to either of those incidents.

Residents in the area have expressed fears of "gang wars" in the town as police continue their broader investigation.

Source: Daily Express