Funeral for officer killed in A66 crash to take place

PC Matthew Blades was killed on 22 August while on duty for Cleveland Police The funeral of one of the two police officers killed in a wrong-way crash is to take place later. PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, died when a Volkswagon Passat collided with their marked armed response car on the A66 at South Bank, near Middlesbrough, on 22 August. Five young men were also killed. Road closures will be in place in Hartlepool for PC Blades' funeral from BST to allow for a full police ceremonial funeral. Speaking on behalf of his family, Cleveland Police Federation chair Lauren Somerville said "life feels unbearably quiet" without the father-of-two's "silly jokes" and laughter. Officers had been pursuing the Passat for almost seven minutes after it was connected to earlier alleged criminal activity, but the pursuit was abandoned 10 seconds before the crash when it turned onto the dual carriageway, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said. PC Blades and PC Clough were 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, according to the IOPC. Cole Worthy and Theo Rae, both 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Cahill and Jakub Matusiak also died in the crash. PC Matthew Blades had previously been an English teacher Hutton Avenue in Hartlepool will be closed from the junction with Mulgrave Road, alongside St Paul's Road and South Road from the junction with Mitchell Street. Vehicles still parked on these roads after BST will be removed. The school remembered him as an "intelligent, kind and approachable teacher" who "gave generously of himself to the young people in his care". Follow BBC Tees on X,, external Facebook, external, Nextdoor and Instagram, external and listen to Radio Tees on BBC Sounds. Do you have a story suggestion for BBC Tees?