‘Gang rivalry’ led to crash that killed two policemen and five joyriders
Crime gangs are leaving residents in fear in a town where two police officers and five youths died after a car chase.
Community leaders in Middlesbrough in England’s North Yorkshire, told the Telegraph that balaclava-clad gangs of joyriding youths had become “normal”, with locals on deprived housing estates no longer reporting crimes for fear of retribution from masked criminals.
Police have made 17 arrests after the fatal head-on crash on the A66 on Saturday that killed constables Tom Clough, 38, and Matthew Blades, 37.
Five joyriders – Michael Cahill, 23, Jacob Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, and Cole Worthy, 17 – were also killed in the collision. Their car was on the wrong side of the motorway when the crash happened.
It emerged on Tuesday that a house where Worthy’s father lived was rammed by a Volvo SUV in an alleged gang feud shortly before the youths started driving through the town at high speed in a Volkswagen Passat.
The dead youths were known locally as petty criminals who drove dangerously, according to community leaders.
One councillor, who declined to be named for fear of retributive attacks, told the Telegraph that areas of Middlesbrough were blighted by crime and antisocial behaviour.
The councillor said: “We have joyriding, drug dealing, off-road motorbikes, shoplifting, the effects of drug users, bricks being thrown at passing cars, houses being rammed by cars ... There has been a spike in the last few months, and it involves children as young as eight.
“Middlesbrough has lost control. People here have become used to criminality being normal.”
Graham Wilson, an independent councillor for Brambles and Thorntree, said locals were “too scared to do anything” about crime that involved postcode-based drug-dealing groups fighting over territory in the town.
“We do suffer from antisocial behaviour ... It’s quad bikes and motorbikes tearing through the town.
“I think people are too scared to do anything about the crime. ... I think the justice system in this country is non-existent. If you had a better justice system, I don’t think you’d have had half the antisocial behaviour we’ve got now.”
On Monday, masked youths riding quad bikes and off-road motorbikes released balloons, blared horns and set off flares in memory of Matusiak in South Bank, near where the crash happened.
The sky was filled with smoke, while balaclava-clad youths rode scooters, off-road bikes and quad bikes around the field.
Slogans including “never be forgotten”, “RIP the lads” and “F*** TMF” (believed to stand for The Middlesbrough Feds) have been daubed on the town’s East Middlesbrough Events Centre, Pallister Park Centre and Brambles Farm Community Centre.
There are no plans to remove the graffiti over fears it could provoke a backlash from youths, who Wilson said could become “angry”.
“The graffiti is their way of grieving, their way of saying goodbye. I wouldn’t want to get rid of it. I can support it, in that way. I think the friends might get angry [if it was removed].”
A community leader, who declined to be named, said the graffiti would be left to allow the youths “to grieve”.
The leader said: “I just think it’s a bit too early, and there’s a few repercussions as well. Do you know what I mean? The tensions are really high.
“To lose five lives is horrific for the community. It’s still quite raw and still quite sensitive. We’ll probably allow them to grieve and let them do it and express it if that’s how they’re going to do it.
“You can just feel it in the community itself how tense it is and there’s a lot of apprehensiveness. It’s just a shame we have to pick up the mess.”
Detectives are examining links between the A66 crash and a series of linked crimes in the area in the hours before the crash. It was reported on Tuesday that an alleged gang feud led to the head-on collision.
Reports alleged the five youths had begun a high-speed pursuit of a Volvo SUV that had rammed into Cole Worthy’s father’s home at 3am.
There is no suggestion that the father, Gye Worthy, 39, was involved in any criminal activity.
Police previously said they had received several reports on Saturday morning of two vehicles being driven dangerously.
The first vehicle, believed to be a Volvo XC60, was seen ramming properties in Middlesbrough. Police then received reports of a second vehicle, the Volkswagen Passat, which was believed to be linked to the Volvo.
Both vehicles had cloned number plates to avoid detection but were picked up by the force’s automated recognition technology.
The Volvo involved in the initial report has been recovered in Middlesbrough as part of the criminal investigation.
The revelation of the alleged feud came after five more people were arrested in connection with the crash, including a 16-year-old boy and two men, aged 18 and 21, who were held on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group.
A 55-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, and a 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of threats to kill.
A total of 17 people have now been arrested in connection with the crash, including two others held on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group and four accused of possessing class A and B drugs with intent to supply.
A fundraiser set up for the families of officers Blades and Clough has exceeded £800,000 ($1.82m) in donations.
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