World News

Inquests open into deaths of two Cleveland Police officers killed in A66 crash

An inquest has provisionally found that the officers died from head and neck injuries when their vehicle was hit by a car traveling against traffic.

Updated Aug 27, 2026 · 11:20 UTC1 reports

The short version

Inquests have opened and adjourned into the deaths of Cleveland Police officers PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough.
The officers were killed on Saturday when a Volkswagen Passat driving the wrong way down the A66 near Middlesbrough struck their vehicle.
Investigators are examining the circumstances of the crash, including an aborted police pursuit that occurred prior to the collision.

Area Coroner Paul Appleton opened and adjourned the inquests into the deaths of 37-year-old PC Matthew Blades and 38-year-old PC Tom Clough.[BBC News]
The officers died after their vehicle was struck by a Volkswagen Passat traveling against the flow of traffic on the A66 dual carriageway near Middlesbrough.[BBC News]
Provisional causes of death were recorded as head and neck injuries for PC Blades and neck injuries for PC Clough.[BBC News]
The coroner stated there was an "aborted" police pursuit prior to the crash, though neither of the two deceased officers was directly involved in it.[BBC News]
A fundraising campaign started by the Cleveland Police Federation for the officers' families has raised more than £1 million.[BBC News]

The precise sequence of events leading to the crash is still being investigated, with the coroner awaiting full post-mortem examinations, an Independent Office for Police Conduct report, and a police collision report.[BBC News]
Inquests for the five young men who were inside the Volkswagen Passat have not yet opened, though they are expected to begin at a later date.[BBC News]