Funeral for second officer killed in A66 crash to be held

The funeral for the second police officer killed in a wrong-way crash while on duty will take place later on Thursday.

PC Tom Clough, 38, died on the A66 in South Bank, near Middlesbrough, in the early hours of 22 August alongside his colleague PC Matthew Blades when a Volkswagen Passat collided with their marked armed police car. The five young men in the Passat also died.

PC Blades' funeral took place in Hartlepool on Wednesday with hundreds of police officers from around the country and members of the community lining the street.

Cleveland Police Federation chair Lauren Somerville said PC Clough's partner had said public support "brought them so much strength".

Officers had been pursuing the Passat seconds before it collided with PC Blades and PC Clough's car on the dual carriageway.

The pair had been 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 Passat's occupants - Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and Cole Robert Worthy, 17 - also died.

PC Clough had served in the Army and Somerville said she had "the privilege" of speaking to his partner.

"The family are grateful for all of the support from the public, it's brought them so much strength," Somerville said.

"She wants people to know that Tom wasn't just a police officer, he was a partner and a brother and a son and most importantly a father to a sausage dog called Frank, who was the love of his life."

More than £1.2m was raised to help the families of PC Blades and PC Clough, a fundraiser which was set up by Cleveland Police Federation.

"Tom used to say that he didn't think anybody would come to his funeral and he was wrong," Somerville said.

"He was so wrong.

"He was described as giving his everything to everybody."

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