Schools to close early for A66 funeral of Theo Rae

Several Acklam schools will finish early on Monday, September 7, ahead of Theo Rae’s funeral at Teesside Crematorium.

Acklam Whin Primary School and Green Lane School will close at 1.15pm after pupils receive their usual lunch.

Theo Rae, 17 and Cole Robert Worthy, 17. (Image: SOCIAL MEDIA)

Acklam Grange and Outwood Academy, Acklam will close at 12.15pm, while Newham Bridge Primary School will finish at 1pm.

Acklam Grange will provide more information about future possible closures on Tuesday and Wednesday.

From left to right: Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Michael Robert Cahill, 23. (Image: SOCIAL MEDIA)

The closures come days after several schools shut early for the funeral of Jakub Matusiak, another victim of the A66 crash. It follows fears of distruption.

Ray was among five men killed when their Volkswagen Passat collided with a marked Cleveland Police vehicle near South Bank on August 22.

PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were also killed in the crash.

Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38 (Image: CLEVELAND POLICE)

The Passat was travelling the wrong way when it collided with the police vehicle.

Schools’ decision to close early for Jakub’s funeral sparked concern, with politicians questioning why children’s education should be disrupted.

Education Secretary Lucy Powell said there were “huge anxieties and worries in the community” and described the situation as a “very difficult and delicate situation”.

She said she wanted schools to stay open but trusted headteachers to protect their pupils.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “As Education Secretary, I want schools to be open. I want pupils attending schools all the time.

“And these headteachers of these small number of schools have taken a very difficult decision with the local authority and the police for the safety of their school community to close early.

“What I would say is that there are huge anxieties and worries in the communities.”

Ms Powell said she had contacted local MPs and Home Office ministers to arrange surge policing and extra resources to “calm those tensions down and to make those streets safe”.

She added: “I trust headteachers to make the judgments that they need to make to keep their school community safe. I hope this doesn’t have to happen again.”

Police at the scene of the A66 crash (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

After Jakub’s funeral on Friday, Cleveland Police said the day passed without incident and with minimal traffic disruption.

Superintendent John Wrintmore said: “Today’s events have passed without issue and very minimal traffic disruption.

“Our policing operation to ensure public safety will take the same approach next week when more funerals are taking place.

“We will continue to work closely with our partners to minimise disruption in these areas and keep the public safe.

“No schools, services or businesses have been instructed to close, and any decision to do so has been made by individual organisations after their own risk assessments.

“We would like to thank our communities for their continued cooperation and support. Our visible police presence in the area will continue throughout the week to provide reassurance and allow everyone to continue with their daily lives as normal.”

Theo’s funeral will take place at 2pm on Monday, September 7, at St Bede’s Chapel, Teesside Crematorium, on Acklam Road, Middlesbrough.

Makai Saddington’s funeral will take place on Tuesday, September 8, and Cole Worthy’s will follow at the same crematorium on Wednesday, September 9.

The funerals of the officers are also set to take place next week.