Cleveland Police Department said seven more men were arrested after the A66 crash, taking the total number of arrests linked to the investigation to 24. The update came as the force continued examining the crash near Middlesbrough, which killed seven people, including PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38.
Earlier this week, 17 people were arrested in connection with the investigation, and the latest arrests lift that figure by seven. In a separate update, Cleveland Police probe multiple deaths after A66 crash on Teesside laid out the scale of the case as the arrests continued to rise.
Dave Sutherland update
Cleveland Police ACC Dave Sutherland said the force was not currently linking the A66 crash to a house fire which killed a woman and a seven-year-old girl. The force had previously said it could not rule out a link to organised crime in relation to the house fire and the crash, leaving the inquiry with two live lines of investigation rather than one settled explanation.
Two people were arrested on suspicion of murder after the house fire in Grangetown on Wednesday. The crash inquiry and the fire inquiry have remained separate in Sutherland’s Friday afternoon update, even after the arrest total tied to the A66 case rose again.
Haswell balloon release
Durham Police said a large crowd gathered on a privately owned field near Haswell, County Durham, on Thursday evening, where five vehicles were set on fire and balloons, flares, and fireworks were released. Police said a majority of the crowd had travelled from outside the County Durham area, and County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service said one crew arrived but withdrew because of concerns for firefighter safety.
Anna Turley, the Redcar MP and Labour Home Office minister, called the disorder at the balloon release Cleveland Police Report Multiple Fatalities in A66 Crash "unacceptable" and said it had "put lives at risk". She said residents had been left "frightened and angry in their own communities" and added: "People have a right to grieve and to pay their respects - but people also have a right to feel safe in their own homes and neighbourhoods."
Anna Turley and Jon McAdam
Assistant Chief Constable Jon McAdam said the force was dealing with "anyone who would use that tragedy as an excuse for disorder". The balloon release was held for one of the young men who died in the A66 car crash, but police said the disorder there was unrelated to the crash investigation.
The arrest count now stands at 24, with seven more men added on Friday after the earlier 17 arrests. The next turn in the case will come from what evidence police use to justify those arrests and whether the inquiry keeps following the same threads through the crash and the wider disorder.
