Hundreds gather for funeral of police officer killed in A66 crash as arrest occurs at victim's service

Hundreds of police officers and members of the public gathered in Hartlepool for the funeral of PC Matthew Blades, 37, who was killed in a head-on collision on the A66 near Middlesbrough on 22 August. PC Blades and his colleague, PC Tom Clough, 38, died when their marked armed response car was hit by a Volkswagen Passat. The crash also claimed the lives of five young men: Cole Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, Michael Cahill, 23, and Jakub Matusiak, 23. The service for PC Blades took place at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, where he was honored with a full ceremonial police funeral featuring a guard of honor, bagpipe players, and attendance from policing minister Sarah Jones and Home Office minister Anna Turley. Prime Minister Andy Burnham paid tribute to PC Blades in the House of Commons, thanking him and his colleagues for their service to the community. According to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the Passat had been pursued for nearly seven minutes due to alleged criminal activity before the pursuit was abandoned 10 seconds before the collision. The IOPC noted that PC Blades and PC Clough were searching for the vehicle after its cloned plates triggered a camera, but they were not part of the active pursuit. On the same day as PC Blades' funeral, a 39 year old man was arrested on suspicion of assault following a disturbance at the Teesside Crematorium during the funeral of 17 year old Cole Worthy. Cleveland Police previously stated that the men in the Passat may have had links to organized crime. While center and center left reports focused heavily on the emotional tributes and the scale of the police presence at PC Blades' funeral, a center left report also highlighted the arrest at the teenager's service and a political row regarding school closures for previous funerals of the other young men.