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Thursday , September 17 2026

Arrest at funeral for teen killed in Middlesbrough A66 crash

A man has been arrested at the funeral of one of the five young men who were killed in a wrong-way collision with police, which also killed two police officers.

Cole Worthy died when a Volkswagon Passat collided with a marked armed police car on the A66 in South Bank, near Middlesbrough, in the early hours of 22 August.

The Teesside Crematorium service for the 17-year-old was disrupted at about 12:30 BST and a 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault and taken into custody, Cleveland Police said.

The funeral was on the same day as that of PC Matthew Blades, 37, who was one of the officers killed in the crash.

PC Blades had been travelling along the A66 with his colleague PC Tom Clough when their car was hit head-on by the Passat travelling in the wrong direction.

The pair were in a vehicle looking for the Passat after its cloned registration plates triggered an automated number plate recognition camera, although they were not involved in the pursuit, according to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

The others killed in the Passat were Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, and 17-year-old Theo Rae.

Following the crash, it emerged a property on a street in Acklam, Middlesbrough, linked to Worthy had been rammed, causing extensive damage.

Schools closed early for the previous funerals of some of the other young men killed, but they remained open during the ceremony for Worthy.

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