World

Hartlepool to Hold Ceremonial Funeral for Officer Killed in A66 Crash

By Today News Hours Editorial Desk

A full police ceremonial funeral for PC Matthew Blades, one of two officers killed in a wrong-way crash on the A66, is being held in Hartlepool, with road closures in place from 07:30 BST. PC Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, died on 22 August when a Volkswagen Passat collided head-on with their marked armed response vehicle near South Bank, close to Middlesbrough. Five young men in the Passat also lost their lives: 17-year-olds Cole Worthy and Theo Rae, 18-year-old Makai Saddington, and 23-year-olds Michael Cahill and Jakub Matusiak. According to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), officers had pursued the Passat for nearly seven minutes after it was linked to earlier alleged criminal activity, but called off the chase about 10 seconds before the crash when the car turned onto the dual carriageway. PC Blades and PC Clough had been searching for the vehicle after its cloned number plates were flagged by an automatic number plate recognition camera, but the IOPC confirmed the two officers were not part of the pursuit itself. For PC Blades' funeral, Hutton Avenue will be closed from its junction with Mulgrave Road, along with St Paul's Road and South Road from the junction with Mitchell Street. Any vehicles left on these roads after 07:30 BST will be towed. Cleveland Police Federation chair Lauren Somerville, speaking on behalf of the Blades family, described the toll the loss has taken on colleagues across the force. She said officers throughout the country had been affected by the deaths, adding that the impact felt especially personal within Cleveland Police given its relatively small size. Somerville said there had been a shared sense of duty and pride among officers as they prepared for the funeral, with colleagues determined