5 minutes ago: POLICE ANNOUNCE PRELIMINARY SENTENCES FOR 4 YOUNG MEN IN THE CRASH THAT KILLED 7 PEOPLE IN THE UK
Four of the gang who died in the A66 tragedy had previous convictions and their vehicle was linked to another car seen ramming properties, police said today.
Nine men and three women have now been arrested as part of the investigation into the horrific crash that killed seven people, including two police officers.
The GoFundMe pages for PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37, have raised more than £500,000 in less than 24 hours. The two officers died when their marked armed response vehicle collided with a Volkswagen Passat being driven in the wrong direction on the A66 near Middlesbrough in the early hours of Saturday.
Cleveland Police confirmed they had received several reports of two vehicles being driven dangerously before the incident. The first vehicle, believed to be a Volvo XC60, was seen ramming properties in the Middlesbrough area. The second, the Passat involved in the crash, is understood to have been associated with the activities of the Volvo.
Both vehicles had cloned number plates to avoid detection but were picked up by the force’s automated number plate recognition technology.
The Volvo involved in the initial reports has been traced and recovered on Teesside as part of the criminal investigation
Nine men and three women, aged between 19 and 61, have been arrested on suspicion of several offences, police confirmed.
They said that the investigation covered offences ranging from possession of a firearm to participating in the activities of an organised crime group.
There was no evidence to indicate that filming had taken place for the purposes of TikTok during the chase prior to the incident.
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PC Matthew Blades, of Cleveland Police, who tragically died in the crash on the A66
Four in VW Passat had previous convictions
Those who died in the VW Passat were Michael Robert Cahill, 23, who had no previous convictions.
But Theo Rae, 17, Cole Robert Worthy, 16, Jakub Matusiak, 23, and 18-year-old Makai Saddington all had criminal records.
Saddington pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer and causing racially aggravated alarm or distress to a second PC on June 9.
He appeared before Teesside Magistrates’ Court on July 17 where he admitted the two charges and received a 12-month conditional discharge.
He was ordered to pay £50 in compensation.
He also admitted possession of a controlled class C drug, and possession of a knife in a public place on May 31 last year, and three charges of assaulting a police officer on the same date. He also appeared in a previous video of a police chase.
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Jakub Matusiak admitted using a vehicle without insurance and driving without a licence in March(Image: Facebook)
Worthy had used threatening abusive language to cause harassment, alarm and distress in 2024.
He also admitted failing to surrender to custody on May 14, 2025 and he pleaded guilty common assault of a police officer on April 27, 2025.
He admitted driving without a licence, using a vehicle without insurance, driving without reasonable consideration and driving while using a mobile phone in June this year.
Matsuiak admitted using a vehicle without insurance and driving without a licence on March 22 this year.
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Makai Saddington, 18, assaulted a police officer and caused racially aggravated alarm or distress to another
A balloon release was due to be held later today in order to remember him.
Rae had 12 shoplifting offences on his record, dating from October 21, 2023 and to May 4, 2024.
He also admitted three offences of theft from a motor vehicle, one theft of vehicle, possession of cannabis and aggravated vehicle taking, all in 2024.
He admitted another charge of aggravated vehicle taking on January 2, 2025 and pleaded guilty and assaulting a police officer on April 30 this year.
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Michael Ray had 12 shoplifting offences on his record
Andy Burnham condemns TikTok videos
A video posted on the TikTok account believed to belong to Saddington in 2025 showed him and four other young people involved in what appears to be a police pursuit. The video has since been deleted.
The 94-second clip showed a car being driven on footpaths and parkland in Ormesby, Middlesbrough, with Saddington as a rear-seat passenger. Another video posted by the same account, also since deleted, appeared to show a joyride where a passenger is smoking, with the speedometer showing 100mph. Then, later in the video, a different car is set on fire. The passengers in this video were not identifiable.
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A teen in the crash had posted TikTok videos of his previous high-speed police chases (Image: Tiktok/unknownm829)
Glorification of dangerous driving “for clips and entertainment is utterly disgraceful”, No 10 said.
TikTok and other social media firms have been urged to remove wrong-way driving videos from its platforms.
Sharing such material online was “truly reprehensible” after links were made between the A66 tragedy and social media trends.
The Prime Minister told reporters during today’s visit to Kyiv: “Anybody who glorifies dangerous driving is doing something that’s truly reprehensible.”
A Downing Street spokeswoman added: “The glorification of dangerous driving for clips and entertainment is utterly disgraceful.
“We have raised the issue of this appalling content with social media companies since the tragedy, and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy) is clear that it should be removed in line with their legal obligations.”
She added that Ofcom has the Government’s “full backing to take tough action” against platforms which fail in their legal duties.
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Andy Burnham, during his first foreign job as PM, reacted to the tragedy(Image: Getty Images)
PC Clough had ‘a cheeky nature and wit’
PC Clough’s commanding officer from his time serving with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) paid tribute to his “warmth, humour and authenticity”.
The CNC says PC Clough joined in 2013 and served until April 2018 as an authorised firearms officer based at Sellafield Operational Policing Unit. Ch Supt Richard Clark added: “Tom was the epitome of professionalism, bringing dedication, skill and commitment to every. Yet what made Tom truly special was his personality.
“Alongside his professional excellence, he possessed a fun-loving, cheeky nature and a wit that could lift spirits even during the most demanding shifts.” Carmel College in Darlington, County Durham, part of a Catholic Education Trust, confirmed that PC Blades had worked as an English teacher there before joining the force.
They said: “He was a much-loved and highly valued member of staff at Carmel before leaving teaching to begin a new vocation of service as a police officer.
“Many within our community will remember Matty as an intelligent, kind and approachable teacher, a valued colleague and someone who gave generously of himself to the young people in his care.”
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A police officer leaves flowers at the Cleveland Police HQ Memorial Garden in Middlesbrough(Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
‘Our robust response will continue’
Assistant Chief Constable Wayne Fox, responsible for the strategic leadership of the investigation, said: “This has been a fast moving and complex investigation, with significant links to serious and organised criminal activity.
“The events of that tragic night will have a lasting and profound impact on the Cleveland area and the communities we seek to protect.
“Our robust response will continue in the weeks and months to come, as we continue to tackle those that seek to cause harm to our communities and tackle serious and organised crime.’
“Officers and staff across Cleveland have shown incredible resilience in continuing their work in the face of tragedy.”
Defence minister Luke Pollard warned social media firms to remove posts featuring content that “celebrates dangerous behaviour on our roads”. He criticised that users can earn cash for clocking up views on such posts.
Mr Pollard told BBC Radio 5 Live he wants to see social media platforms “step up”. He said: “We’ve communicated to those social media platforms that have been hosting content that celebrates this type of dangerous behaviour on our roads to take down that content.
“I think we all need to give the police time, but there’s also things we can be doing in the meantime to make sure that the internet is a safer place for everyone, that doesn’t celebrate and load views and therefore financial incentives on people to generate such awful content.”
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The scene after the crash near Middlesbrough(Image: Iain Buist/Newcastle Chronicle)
The police watchdog confirmed that the VW Passat was pursued by Cleveland Police officers until seconds before the devastating crash.
The IOPC says initial enquiries established that Cleveland Police received intelligence regarding numerous incidents linked to a Volkswagen Passat.
PC Clough’s family said in a statement: “He was our hero with a fantastic sense of humour. Jumped into action whenever needed, willing to help anyone for any reason.”Proudly fought for his country to make the world a better place. Always on public duty throughout his short life. We as a family and Tom’s partner would like to express our sincere gratitude for the overwhelming support and condolences.”The heartbroken wife of PC Blades added: “No words will ever feel like the right words to honour our Matt – my beloved husband, my best friend, and the most devoted father to our two young boys.”He was loved beyond words by all his family and friends, and his loss has left a space that can never be filled.”
Matt Storey, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland, said: “it is absolutely idiotic for anyone to be involved in anything other than concentrating on the road when they are at the wheel of a vehicle.
“Filming themselves or anything like that is absolutely ridiculous. It is worrying if that is becoming more prevalent. We do not know if that is the case in this incident, but it wrong to do so.”
Cleveland Police said that five people had been arrested on suspicion of being in an organised crime group in connection with the crash inquiry.
Three men, aged 19, 24 and 35, were also suspected of being in possession of an offensive weapon.
