Fundraiser for A66 crash police officers tops £1m

ByJason Arunn Murugesu

North East and Cumbria

A fundraiser for two police officers who were killed in a wrong-way crash has reached more than £1m.

PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough died during the early hours of Saturday when a Volkswagen Passat, going the wrong way on the A66 at South Bank, near Middlesbrough, hit their vehicle. The five young men in the Volkswagen also died.

Among the donations to the police officers' fundraiser, which was launched by the Cleveland Police Federation, was £4,000 from the Cleveland branch of the National Association of Retired Police Officers.

Its chair Grant Thorburn said the officers' deaths had "hit home hard" and that seeing the tributes and donations paid to them had been "humbling".

He said: "Once you're a police officer, you're always a police officer, so even after you retire, particularly in Cleveland, it's such a small, compact force, everyone knows everyone else."

The Police Federation's acting deputy national chair Paul Williams said there was "tremendous grief" among Cleveland officers.

"The policing family is deeply scarred by this incident," he said. "This just brings it home as to how vulnerable we actually are."

He said police officers were human beings who were your ordinary relatives, friends, parents, partners and colleagues.

The fundraiser will be split equally between the families of the two men to be used as they wish, according to the Cleveland Police Federation.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) previously said that officers had been pursuing the Volkswagen Passat seven minutes after it was connected to earlier alleged criminal activity, but the pursuit was abandoned 10 seconds before the crash when the Passat turned on to the dual carriageway.

PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough had been in a vehicle looking for the Passat after its cloned registration plates triggered an automated number plate recognition camera, although they were not involved in the pursuit, the IOPC said.

PC Blades, a 37-year-old father of two, was described by his family as a "beloved husband" and the "most devoted father".

"He may have left this world committed to the duty he believed in, but his greatest legacy will always be the love he gave to his family," his wife said, adding he would be "forever our super hero".

PC Clough had served in the Army, with one man saying he was a "true friend, fantastic soldier and I have no doubt even better police officer".

His family said he had a "fantastic sense of humour" and would jump "into action whenever needed".

They added he had been their "hero", always "willing to help anyone for any reason".

Tributes have also been made to the five young men who died in the Volkswagen Passat, but a community group has urged people not to graffiti buildings with messages.

Active Tees Valley made the appeal on Facebook after messages were spray-painted on the East Middlesbrough Events Centre - formerly the Middlebeck Social Club.

Messages on its walls included: "RIP The Boys", "Never Be Forgotten RIP The Lads", and the initials of those in the car with "Rest easy boys".

The Facebook post said: "We understand that people want to express their emotions and pay their respects, but damaging buildings that are being used to support local residents ultimately impacts the same community we are all trying to look after."

Police said 17 people, aged between 18 and 61, had been arrested across Teesside as part of an ongoing investigation into the lead-up to the crash.

They have been held on a range of offences, including possession of a firearm and being part of an organised crime group.

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