Explained: The A66 crash which left seven dead and a string of incidents tormenting UK town

All you need to know about the fatal crash and the incidents since

On Saturday (22 August), policemen Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38, died in the collision with a Volkswagen Passat.

“All occupants of both vehicles were sadly pronounced dead at the scene”, Teesside Coroner's Court heard.

According to Coroner Paul Appleton, Pc Blades was identified by his wife, and Pc Clough by his partner.

The provisional cause of death was given as head and neck injuries for Pc Blades, and neck injuries for Pc Clough.

The case was opened in the afternoon of Thursday into the deaths of the young men in the Passat:

• Cole Worthy, 17
• Theo Rae, 17
• Makai Saddington, 18
• Michael Robert Cahill, 23
• Jakub Matusiak (named by police as Jacob), 23

According to the coroner, all the young men were identified by fingerprint analysis.

The causes of death were said to be neck injuries for Matusiak, head and torso injuries for Cahill, head injuries for Saddington and Rae, and head and chest injuries for Worthy.

How the deadly A66 crash unfolded, killing seven

Two police officers and five people within a Volkswagen Passat travelling the wrong way down the A66 were killed after the car collided with a marked police car around 03:30 BST on Saturday.

By using pictures of the scene and police reports as well as doorbell footage, what can be pieced together is exactly how the fatal incident unfolded.

As the BBC reports, four of the five people in the car had previous convictions.

One of them, Makai Saddington, 18, previously pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer.

PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough were the two police officers who died in the crash.

Reports of a vehicle crashing into property are now being investigated

Following a vehicle crashing into a property near Middlesbrough, Cleveland Police are now investigating the report.

Whether this incident is linked to wider organised crime in the area has not yet been confirmed, however.

The location is close to the scenes of the fatal crash on the A66 and a house fire in Grangetown where a seven-year-old girl and her aunt were killed.

Officers were called to reports of an incident after 12.30am Thursday morning at a property on Steele Crescent, South Bank.

 “The property was empty at the time and we have not currently received any reports of any injuries”, Superintendent Emily Harrison said

“Officers are conducting enquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding this incident.”

Father of teen who died in A66 crash had property rammed before fatal incident

Sky News reported that it understands the property of the father of a teenager who died in the A66 crash was rammed shortly before the fatal incident.

One of five individuals who died following a police chase in Middlesbrough on Saturday morning was seventeen-year-old Cole Worthy, while two officers also lost their lives.

Rammed minutes before the crash was a property linked to Gye Worthy, who Sky News understands is Cole's father.

According to police, one individual who was linked to Saturday's crash appeared before Teesside Magistrates' Court.

Nineteen-year-old Kai Beatty from Redcar has been charged with possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

The court heard how he was arrested because the police believe he was in the Volvo which had been ramming properties, which were not identified in court, as "part of the ongoing feud".

Beatty has denied the charges and will be remanded in custody until a plea hearing on 22 September at Middlesbrough Crown Court.

House fire near to A66 incident leaves two dead

It comes after Valentina Foster, aged seven, and Natalie McDonald, 34, died following a fire at an end-of-terrace property in Birchington Avenue, Grangetown, during the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Cleveland Police said two men, aged 23 and 31, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and they remain in police custody following the fire.

Local superintendent Emily Harrison said: "We continue to work to establish the circumstances of exactly what has happened, but we are keeping an open mind and cannot rule out any links to wider organised crime at this time.

"We will have a high visibility presence in the Grangetown area as this investigation progresses and to provide reassurance to local communities, who will no doubt be impacted by this tragic incident."

Another house rammed by car and man stabbed in latest incidents in town

In Middlesbrough another house suffered damage, as it hit by a car in the latest incident in the town.

According to police, they are investigating reports of a vehicle crashing into the wall of a property on Steele Crescent, South Bank, at around 12.30am on Thursday.

The latest incident is close to the scenes of a crash on the A66, in which seven people died on Saturday, and a house fire in Grangetown where a seven-year-old girl and her aunt were killed.

It has not been confirmed whether there is any link to the latest incident, or a previous car ramming last Saturday, as per Cleveland Police.

“The property was empty at the time and we have not currently received any reports of any injuries”, Superintendent Emily Harrison said.

Speaking to The Daily Mail, a neighbour said: “It happened at about 12.40am. My daughter saw it. She said a car kept going backwards and forwards into the wall over and over.

“People on the outside think it's scary but it doesn't bother me. I've grown up here and it's normal. There's always something going on here.”

Meanwhile, at around noon on Thursday, a 39-year-old man was stabbed on the Bankfields estate in Eston, only two miles from the scene of the fatal crash.

Armed police were dispatched to the scene where the front door of a house had been smashed with the victim is currently in hospital receiving treatment.

Disorder at vigil for one of the young men has been deemed ‘unacceptable’

Meanwhile, an MP has said that serious disorder at a balloon release for one of the young men who died in the A66 car crash is “unacceptable”.

Labour MP Turley, who is also a Home Office minister, called on Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and Cleveland Police to use "every appropriate power to protect our communities".

According to Durham Police, 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.

“We utterly condemn anyone who would use that tragedy as an excuse for disorder”, Assistant Chief Constable Jon McAdam said.

Police said a majority of the crowd in the field near Haswell had travelled from outside the County Durham area, bringing with them a number of vehicle.

The force said that officers were called to the area shortly after 17:30 BST.