Twelve arrested in organised crime inquiry after A66 crash kills seven

Twelve people have been arrested across Teesside as part of an investigation into the A66 crash that killed seven people, including two police officers, in what detectives have described as a "fast moving and complex" inquiry into serious organised crime. Nine men and three women, aged between 19 and 61, have been held on suspicion of a range of offences including possession of a firearm and participation in an organised crime group, with one man already charged and remanded in custody.

The crash occurred in the early hours of Saturday when a Volkswagen Passat that had been pursued by police travelled the wrong way down the A66 near Middlesbrough and collided with an oncoming police car. All five occupants of the Passat – Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jacob Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, and 17-year-old Cole Robert Worthy – died at the scene, along with PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37. Cleveland Police said it was investigating "serious criminal activity that resulted in this fatal incident".

The force has released further details of the events leading up to the collision. Officers received several reports of two vehicles "being driven dangerously" on Saturday morning. The first vehicle, believed to be a Volvo XC60, was seen "ramming properties" in the Middlesbrough area, while the second, the Passat, is believed to have been associated with this activity. Both vehicles were operating with cloned number plates but were detected by automated number plate recognition technology. The Volvo has since been recovered in Middlesbrough. Four of the five people in the Passat had previous convictions.

Assistant Chief Constable Wayne Fox said the investigation had been "fast moving and complex". "The events of that tragic night will have a lasting and profound impact on the Cleveland area and the communities we seek to protect," he said. "We have a duty to respond to, and thoroughly investigate, the serious criminal activity that resulted in this fatal incident and to bring all those responsible to justice." The Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched its own investigation following a mandatory self-referral from Cleveland Police, as is required when someone dies following contact with police. The IOPC said officers had followed the Passat for almost seven minutes before abandoning the pursuit when the car went the wrong way down the A66 at South Bank. Ten seconds later, at 03:39 BST, the Passat collided with the vehicle of PCs Clough and Blades, who were travelling on the correct side of the road and were in the area to assist with the search for the car.

Among those arrested were three men, aged 24, 19 and 35, held on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group and possession of an offensive weapon; a 21-year-old man held on suspicion of the same offences plus criminal damage, who has been remanded on recall to prison; and a 30-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. A 26-year-old man has been charged with possession with intent to supply class A drugs and possession of criminal property, and was remanded in custody ahead of his next court hearing. Other arrests included a man and woman, aged 39 and 47, released on conditional bail after being held on suspicion of possessing a firearm without a certificate and drug offences, while an 18-year-old man was released on unconditional bail on similar charges.

Earlier, BBC Verify reported that a TikTok account believed to belong to Saddington had previously shared videos showing young men driving dangerously, prompting the government to call for social media platforms to remove posts celebrating such behaviour. Cleveland Police said: "At the current time, there is no evidence to indicate that filming of the activities that took place on Friday night and Saturday morning has taken place for the purposes of TikTok." An online fundraiser set up for the officers' families by the Cleveland Police Federation had raised more than £750,000 by Tuesday morning.

PC Blades' wife said he "gave his life in the line of duty, protecting and serving others with courage, dedication and selflessness". Before joining Cleveland Police, he worked as an English teacher at Carmel College in Darlington, where the college said he was remembered as "an intelligent, kind and approachable teacher, a valued colleague and someone who gave generously of himself to the young people in his care". The family of PC Clough, a former soldier, described him as "our hero" who "jumped into action whenever needed" and was "willing to help anyone for any reason". Flags at Cleveland Police headquarters are flying at half-mast, and Redcar and Cleveland Council has opened a book of condolence. Tributes for the five young men have also been shared on social media, with many of their friends saying they were "heartbroken" and "lost for words".