Britain28 August, 20263 min read
Cleveland Police Arrest Seven More Men After Deadly A66 Crash In Middlesbrough
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Seven more men arrested in Teesside organised crime crackdown after fatal A66 crash Total arrests in the probe rise to 24
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A66 crash probe widens
Seven more men were arrested as part of an operation tackling alleged organised crime after the deadly A66 head-on crash, Cleveland Police said, bringing the total number of people arrested since the crash to 24. Officers said four men aged 35, 25, 40 and 21 were being held on suspicion of criminal damage with intent to endanger life after a vehicle crashed into a house in Steele Crescent, Middlesbrough, and they were also being questioned over alleged arson after a caravan was set alight in Atlee Road on Wednesday morning.
“It brings the total number of people arrested since the crash to 24.”
Cleveland Police Assistant Chief Constable Wayne Fox said, "This latest disruptive activity now brings the total number of arrests to 24 since the investigation commenced," as the force described additional arrests and questioning tied to the wider investigation. The same operation followed a week that began with the head-on crash that killed Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38, and five young men last weekend, with police also saying they were not linking a house fire that killed a seven-year-old girl and her aunt to the A66 crash.
Arrests, charges, and inquests
The arrests included a 23-year-old man on suspicion of threats to kill, a 42-year-old on suspicion of threats to kill and possession of criminal property, and a 30-year-old on suspicion of possession of criminal property, with all three released on conditional bail. Cleveland Police said the force was not linking the house fire that killed a seven-year-old girl and her aunt to the A66 crash, while the Guardian reported that police said two fatal incidents may be linked to organised crime.
Inquests into the deaths of Pc Matthew Blades and Pc Tom Clough were opened and adjourned at Teesside Coroner’s Court, where coroner Paul Appleton said, "All occupants of both vehicles were sadly pronounced dead at the scene." The Guardian also reported that the Teesside area coroner Paul Appleton said there was a collision on the A66 at South Bank between a police vehicle and a Volkswagen Passat, and that the provisional cause of death for Blades was head and neck injuries and for Clough was neck injuries.
Community impact and police backing
Beyond the A66 crash investigation, the Guardian said five MPs on Teesside called on the government to provide more help to local police and fire services after a week in which nine people had died in two incidents. The Guardian reported that Andy McDonald, the Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, said gangs and the drugs trade were "clearly featuring" in a series of incidents, and he told BBC Radio 4 that Cleveland police had been underfunded for many years.
On Thursday evening, the Guardian said Alec Brown, the Labour leader of Redcar and Cleveland council, said more than 200 extra police officers had been, or would be, deployed from around the country to support Cleveland police. The Guardian also quoted prime minister Andy Burnham saying the government would offer "all of the support that the authorities need" after the incidents, while adding that he told reporters it was "too early to jump to conclusions" about whether the Grangetown fire and the A66 crash were connected.