The two hero officers killed by five ‘TikTok joyriders’ have been pictured for the first time.
PC Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38, died in the early hours of Saturday when a car travelling the wrong way down the A66 crashed head-on into his police vehicle.
The young men in the other car were today names as Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Jacob Matusiak, 23, and Makai Saddington, 18.
Both police officers and the five men in the VW Passat – which Cleveland Police believes was using cloned plates – were declared dead at the scene.
Officers in another police vehicle had earlier been pursuing the ‘joyriders’ for seven minutes before aborting the chase, the force revealed on Sunday.
Just 10 seconds later, the Passat crashed into Blades and Clough’s police car, which had not been involved in the pursuit. The separate police vehicle was in the area after the plates on the boys’ car activated an ANPR camera.
Mr Blades can be seen in social media posts smiling at the camera as he attends Manchester United football matches and completes a half marathon.
The husband and father-of-two had recently become a coach for local amateur football team Seaton Carew FC and was preparing for his first turn teaching its under-sevens team – who his son plays for.
An image of Mr Clough from October 2021 shows him in a previous role for British Transport Police meeting then Darlington Tory MP Peter Gibson at the town’s rail station.
Friends described the officer, who was a former soldier, as a ‘genuine, caring, decent man’.
PC Matthew Blades, an officer killed by five ‘TikTok joyriders’, has been pictured for the first time
PC Tom Clough pictured, right, in a previous role for British Transport Police meeting then Darlington Tory MP Peter Gibson at the town’s rail station
Makai Saddington, 18, one of the five youngsters killed in the VW Passat, had posted videos on TikTok of him being chased by police over the past few months
Jacob Matusiak, 23, was also confirmed by police today as one of the five killed in the crash
The pair have been hailed for their bravery after being killed in the line of duty.
Cleveland police and crime commissioner Matt Storey described the force as a ‘really tight-knit family’ and said the incident would ‘have a big impact on them’.
Last night it emerged Saddington had posted a string of TikTok videos appearing to show him taking part in high-speed police chases months before his death.
It is understood he and his companions had close links to the traveller community.
In the early hours of Saturday, the group of young men became involved in a pursuit with two police cars chasing the ‘suspicious’ vehicle.
Ring doorbell footage at 3.36am shows the VW Passat being driven at speed through Middlesbrough’s streets. Officers called off the pursuit when the vehicle drove on to the A66.
Just three minutes after the pursuit was caught on camera, at 3.39am, the car ploughed into the path of a different marked armed-response vehicle, which was on the correct side of the A66.
Seaton Carew FC said on social media: ‘He was looking forward to being part of the team and, most importantly, to coaching his own son, who is going to be playing for the Seahawks [under-sevens] this season.
‘Matty and his oldest son are much-loved members of our club and our U10 Lions football family.’
A friend of Mr Clough said: ‘It makes me so angry and so sad that Tom lost his life in that way.
‘He was a genuine, caring, decent man. If he could have, he would have apprehended the lads in the car and he would have tried to help them, that’s the way he saw his job in the army and in the police force.
‘It’s taking a long time to sink in that he’s gone having lived only half his life, it’s so unfair and I feel for his partner and daily so much.
‘He served in the army before the police force and was also a very good soldier. He’s a huge loss.’
Friends said PC Clough had also served in the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.
Cleveland Police lowered flags to half-mast at their Middlesbrough HQ in tribute to their colleagues, who are understood to have not been part of the pursuit. Seaton Carew FC also made the same gesture today.
Chief Constable Victoria Fuller looked close to tears yesterday as she told how she and her deputy David Felton had visited the families of PC Blades and PC Clough to offer condolences and support ‘with this unimaginable loss’.
Paying tribute to the men, she said: ‘These were brave officers, protecting our communities and serving our residents, who didn’t return home to their families at the end of their shift.’
She added: ‘This is an incredibly sad day for Cleveland. The loss has been felt across our communities, by our police family, and by our partner agencies.
‘My thoughts, and the thoughts of everybody here at Cleveland Police, are with their families, friends, colleagues, and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.’
Lauren Somerville, chairman of the Cleveland Police Federation, said: ‘Words cannot describe the pain the Cleveland Police family is feeling today.
Balloons have been tied near the scene of the crash on the A66 in South Bank, Middlesbrough
Flowers have been placed in memory of the victims including PC Blades and PC Clough
‘Our colleagues who should have been going home to their loved ones at the end of their shifts are not. That is just unfathomable.’
Redcar MP Anna Turley, a government minister whose constituency covers the area, said of the officers: ‘They went to work to keep people safe, and they should have come home to their families.
‘Their loss will be felt deeply by their loved ones, fellow officers and right across the communities they served.’
The Independent Office for Police Conduct has opened an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the fatal crash.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham thanked the emergency services for their response in ‘incredibly difficult circumstances’.
Writing on X, he added: ‘My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of everyone involved.’
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘My thoughts are with the families and friends of those officers killed in the line of duty as well as those serving in Cleveland Police, the wider police family and all the emergency services who attended the scene.’
As an investigation into the incident continues, social media posts from the young men involved reveal some insight into their activities before the tragedy happened.
Close friends Theo Rae (left) and Cole Robert Worthy both died in the crash on Saturday
Michael Robert Cahill was praised by those who knew him as a ‘lovely, down to earth lad’
Saddington posted videos on his Tiktok of men in balaclavas driving cars at speed
In one clip, filmed in May by a passenger and set to rap music, 18-year-old Saddington is seen in an Audi being driven at speed through a housing estate with a police car’s blue lights flashing in pursuit.
The vehicle is then seen veering across a grassy playing field in an apparent bid to shake off officers.
Another video on an account associated with him shows a green Nissan being driven around before being set alight, while separate images posted elsewhere show him and a friend posing in cars wearing black balaclavas.
The clips reflect a trend of young men filming themselves being pursued by police at high speed and posting the clips on social media in pursuit of views and likes.
It happened just days after five teenagers died in a head-on collision on a motorway in Ireland.
The masked youngsters were in a stolen BMW travelling the wrong way down the M9 in County Kildare at 2am last Sunday.
Police had tried to pull the stolen car over but it sped off the wrong way down the M9 to avoid a stinger device that had been deployed to stop the car.
The occupants of the other vehicle – three sisters and a seven-year-old boy – suffered serious injuries in the crash and remain in hospital.
Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller named the two police officers killed as PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough during a police press conference on Saturday
This was the scene on Sunday morning beside the A66 as police inquiries continue
Following news of Saturday’s Middlesbrough crash, family and friends posted a series of tributes to the five teenagers.
The mother of Saddington’s one-year-old son posted on social media: ‘What am I supposed to do without ur daft phone calls and u torching (sic) me life’s so cruel.’
Meanwhile, friends of Worthy called his death ‘a massive devastation’ and another wrote: ‘Absolutely heartbroken, you are gonna be missed Cole, love u lots.’
He shared a friendship with Rae, who also died in the crash – with the pair pictured together last December and often commenting on each other’s social media posts.
One commenter wrote of Theo that he was ‘taken way too soon’ and had a ‘heart of gold’, describing as someone who would have ‘done anything for anyone’.
Cahill was praised online as a ‘lovely, down to earth lad’.
The sister of Matusiak said her heart was ‘broken’ by the news, describing her sibling as her ‘best friend always and forever’.
A friend wrote he would be ‘missed by everyone who knows you’.
As more details emerged, householders in Lime Road – a mile from the crash site – told how they were woken by the noise as the stolen car ‘shot down’ the street, followed by police cars.
Neil Hutchison, 47, said: ‘You could tell from the noise that they were travelling at high speed.
‘Two cars went down the street and then a few seconds later there was a third, they were obviously going after another vehicle. It’s tragic that it ended with people dead.’
Craze that claimed five more young lives just a week ago
By Padraic Flanagan
It was feared last night that the A66 crash may be a copycat tragedy – thanks to the deadly TikTok craze that claimed the lives of five teenagers in a head-on motorway smash in the Irish Republic last week.
In that case, the youngsters, who were all wearing balaclavas in a stolen BMW travelling the wrong way down the country’s M9, died at the scene in Co Kildare in the early hours of Sunday.
The deaths of Joey Carthy, 15, Jack Kennedy, 17, Alex McCarthy, 16, Jeremy O’Brien, 18, and 17-year-old Kamil Pustkowski led to public fury at social media platforms after it emerged that the teenagers were filming themselves in the car.
That anger intensified on Thursday when TikTok declined an invitation to appear before an Irish parliamentary committee on media to discuss the latest craze of posting videos of people driving the wrong way down motorways.
Sisters Ella Hendricken, who is in her 20s, and Niamh and Alma Kinsella, in their 30s, as well as Alma’s seven-year-old son, Yemi, are being treated in hospital for serious injuries after their Hyundai was hit by the BMW.
The innocent victims, from Graiguecullen, Co Carlow, were on their way to Dublin to fly out for a family wedding in the UK when the teens smashed into their car. Three of the five teens killed in the M9 tragedy were buried on Friday. Two more funerals are due to take place today and on Tuesday.
Videos featuring youngsters in stolen cars trying to bait police into high-speed chases have become a macabre trend.
Mary Aiken, a professor of forensic cyber-psychology at the University of East London, told The Guardian: ‘While driving, they’re simultaneously filming and capturing content for posting later or live streaming. They have one foot in the real world and one foot in cyberspace. They’re thinking about the likes… about kudos.’
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