Britain28 August, 20262 min read
Durham Police Condemn Disorder at Michael Cahill Balloon Memorial as Five Vehicles Burn in Haswell
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Five vehicles were set on fire during a balloon release memorial in Haswell, County Durham. Police condemned the disorder as completely unacceptable and deployed about 200 extra officers.
5 outlets told this the same way.
A66 vigil disorder
Police condemned disorder at a balloon release memorial for Michael Cahill, 23, at a privately-owned field in Haswell, County Durham, where five vehicles were set on fire on Thursday evening. Durham Police said officers were called shortly after 17:30 BST, and Assistant Chief Constable Jon McAdam said: "The behaviour we saw at last night’s gathering was completely unacceptable."
The gathering lasted around an hour and included the release of balloons, flares, and fireworks, with Durham Police saying the field was contained and there was no immediate risk to wider public safety. The BBC reported that Redcar MP Anna Turley said the event was unacceptable and that it "put lives at risk" and left residents "frightened and angry in their own communities."
Police, MP, and federation
Durham Police said officers decided to let the cars burn because "the field was contained and it was assessed there was no immediate risk to wider public safety," and it added that no-one was injured and no arrests were made. Assistant Chief Constable Jon McAdam also said: "We utterly condemn anyone who would use that tragedy as an excuse for disorder" as police continued an operation in the Haswell area over the coming days.
The BBC reported that Cleveland Police ACC Dave Sutherland said the force was not currently linking the A66 crash to a house fire that killed a woman and a seven-year-old girl, while it had previously said it could not rule out a link to organised crime. Cleveland Police Federation chair Lauren Somerville told BBC Radio Tees that the feelings were "unimaginable" and that the extra 200 police officers being sent would be used "wherever is needed."
Aftermath and wider stakes
The A66 wrong-way crash near Middlesbrough on Saturday killed seven people including PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, and inquests into all seven deaths opened on Thursday. The BBC said police had arrested 17 people, aged between 16 and 61, across Teesside as part of an investigation into the lead-up to the crash, with arrests made on offences including possession of a firearm and being part of an organised crime group.
In the same period, the house fire in Grangetown on Wednesday killed Natalie McDonald, 34, and her seven-year-old niece Valentina Foster, and two people were arrested on suspicion of murder following the fire. BBC Radio Tees quoted Somerville saying it was "a real sense of people starting to understand what the sacrifice of policing is" as the investigation and additional patrols continued after the Haswell memorial disorder.