A66 crash death toll reaches seven as vigil turns disorderly and posts glorifying incident removed
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A vigil held for five young men who died in an A66 crash descended into disorder on Monday, with around 20 masked youths letting off flares and fireworks and riding motorbikes and quad bikes across a field in South Bank, Middlesbrough, in tribute to Jakub Matusiak, 23. The scene stood in sharp contrast to a solemn church vigil held nearby for PC Tom Clough and PC Matthew Blades, the two officers killed when their patrol car was struck head-on by a Volkswagen Passat travelling the wrong way down the dual carriageway, bringing the overall death toll from Saturday's collision to seven.
Cleveland Police kept a low-key presence at the disorderly gathering, with a patrol car and van from the Matrix team, the unit in which the two constables served, stationed around 500 yards away; many local residents chose to stay away, with one branding the display a "mockery" of the officers' deaths. Attendees defended Matusiak as a loved son and brother rather than someone who should be dismissed, while a separate balloon release was held simultaneously in Middlesbrough for Cole Worthy, 17. Also killed in the crash were Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and Michael Robert Cahill, 23; the collision occurred roughly ten seconds after police had called off a pursuit of the Passat, and posts glorifying the incident have since been removed online.
- A66 crash death toll reaches seven, including two police officers
- Vigil for five young men killed turned disorderly with flares and bikes
- Separate solemn church vigil honoured the two officers who died
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Officers PC Tom Clough and PC Matthew Blades were killed on Saturday when a car being driven dangerously collided head-on with their police vehicle on the A66, along with five young men in the other car: Jakub Matusiak, 23, Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, and Cole Worthy, 17. The crash, in the Middlesbrough area, brought the death toll to seven and prompted separate tributes for those killed, reflecting the different communities affected.
Vigils held in the days afterwards have drawn attention partly because of how they contrasted with one another: a formal church service was held for the two police officers, attended by local politicians, while a separate gathering for the five young men involved fireworks, flares and off-road bikes. Cleveland Police, whose Matrix unit the two officers belonged to, monitored the latter event from a distance rather than intervening directly.
The story has also become linked to a wider row over social media posts that appeared to celebrate or glorify the crash, which technology companies and the government moved to remove after criticism from the Prime Minister. This has added a layer of public debate about how such tragedies are discussed and marked online, alongside the loss felt by the families and communities involved.
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The case for
Those who took part in, or defend, the vigil for Jakub Matusiak and the wider reaction see it as raw grief finding its own expression in a community unused to formal mourning rituals: flares, engines and fireworks are, for some young people, sincere gestures of tribute rather than deliberate provocation, and the family's description of him as a loved son and brother deserves the same compassion afforded any bereaved household. Advocates of restraint in policing and content moderation would add that grief looks different across communities, that a heavy-handed police or platform response risks inflaming tensions further, and that mourners should not be presumed to intend disrespect towards the officers simply because their expression of loss was loud and unconventional.
The case against
Critics, including residents who called the display a mockery, argue that riding motorbikes and quad bikes and setting off flares near the scene where two police officers also died shows a troubling disregard for the Clough and Blades families' grief and for public safety, especially given the crash was caused by dangerous driving. They would argue that removing social media posts glorifying the crash is a reasonable and proportionate step, since normalising or celebrating the very behaviour that killed seven people, including two officers doing their jobs, risks encouraging further reckless driving and compounds the pain of bereaved families who see such content as an insult rather than a tribute.'
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