Five more arrests in wrong-way crash investigation

Five more people have been arrested in an investigation into a wrong-way crash on the A66 in Middlesbrough which killed seven people, including two police officers.

Cleveland Police said a 16-year-old boy, 18-year-old man and 21-year-old man were arrested 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 on suspicion of making threats to kill.

Twelve arrests had already been made, bringing the new total to 17.

They remain in custody.

PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37, died in the crash, as did Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jacob Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, and 17-year-old Cole Robert Worthy.

All seven were killed when a Volkswagen Passat, going the wrong way down the A66 at South Bank, near Middlesbrough, hit a Cleveland Police armed response vehicle heading in the opposite direction at 03:39 BST on Saturday.

Officers had been pursuing the car for almost seven minutes after it was connected to earlier alleged criminal activity, but the pursuit was abandoned 10 seconds before the crash when the Passat turned on to the dual carriageway, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.