Harrowing details of the injuries suffered by the two police officers killed in the fatal A66 crash last weekend have been revealed for the first time as inquests open into the cause of the tragic deaths.
Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38, died in a head-on collision on the A66 near Middlesbrough early on Saturday morning.
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This morning, inquests into their deaths were opened and adjourned at Teesside Coroner’s Court.
In short, consecutive hearings, coroner Paul Appleton said Pc Blades was identified by his wife, and Pc Clough by his partner.
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The provisional cause of death was said to be head and neck injuries for Pc Blades, and neck injuries for Pc Clough, after their marked vehicle was hit by a car going the wrong way down a dual carriageway.
Mr Appleton echoed that in the early hours of August 22, there was a collision on the A66 at South Bank between a police vehicle and a Volkswagen Passat.
He told the hearing that “all occupants of both vehicles were sadly pronounced dead at the scene”.
Mr Appleton said: “At this stage it is understood that there had been a police pursuit of the Volkswagen Passat.
“It entered the A66 carriageway against the flow of traffic, at which stage the pursuit was aborted.
“A short time after, the Volkswagen Passat collided with a police vehicle, which had not been directly involved in the prior pursuit.”
This afternoon, inquests will open into the deaths of Cole Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak – all of whom were in the Passat, and also pronounced dead at the scene following the crash.
Cleveland Police are also investigating an incident at Steele Crescent, South Bank, after reports of a vehicle crashing into a wall at a house, in addition to a house fire in Grangetown, where Valentina Foster, aged seven, and Natalie McDonald, 34, died on Wednesday morning.
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The force has not ruled out links between the three incidents, confirming: “We cannot rule out any links to wider organised crime at this time”.
Together, the five youths sadly killed in the crash had 37 previous convictions between them, with only Mr Cahill not having a criminal record.
17 arrests have been made in relation to the crash in the days following the fatal collision.
More than £1million has already been raised for the families of the two police officers killed in the A66 crash, via a GoFundMe site for the families of the two officers.
The force posted a tribute on the page, which reads: “PC Matt Blades and PC Tom Clough were both dedicated and committed Police Officers who left their families and went to work to serve their community and protect the public.
“Tragedy struck these two brave Cleveland Police colleagues in the early hours of 22nd August 2026 – and they paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.”
A separate appeal established by Pocket Sergeant has gathered an additional £48,000.
On Monday, locals packed into St John The Evangelist Church for a silent vigil paying tribute to the two PCs.
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