A community group is asking people not to graffiti buildings with tributes to the young men killed in an A66 crash, which occurred after police pursued a Volkswagen Passat that was involved in ramming properties. Two online fundraisers for the two police officers who died have broken the £1 million barrier, with one reaching over £959,000 and another reaching over £45,000. Inquests are set to open on Thursday morning for the officers, while hearings for the young men in the Passat were scheduled for the afternoon at Teesside Magistrates' Court. The community group, Tees Valley Active, posted on Facebook saying that damaging buildings impacts the local community and suggesting alternative ways to show support.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-26,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
A community group has urged people not to graffiti their buildings with tributes to the young men who died in the A66 crash.
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who → urge → crash
Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38, were the officers killed.
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Blades → kill → ?
They were pronounced dead at the scene at South Bank.
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They → pronounce → Bank
The Passat had been pursued by police following an earlier incident in which a house in the Acklam area of Middlesbrough, linked to Worthy, was rammed by a vehicle.
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house → pursue → vehicle
The pursuit was aborted when the Passat went the wrong way down the A66.
Tees Valley Active posted on Facebook after graffiti was daubed on the East Middlesbrough Events Centre.
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graffiti → abort → Centre
Messages on walls included: “RIP The Boys”, “Never be Forgotten RIP The Lads” and the initials of those in the Passat with “Rest easy boys”.
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Messages → include → Passat
The Facebook post said: “We understand that people want to express their emotions and pay their respects, but damaging buildings that are being used to support local residents ultimately impacts the same community we are all trying to look after.
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we → say → community
“There are other ways we can come together to remember, pay tribute and show our support without damaging facilities that local people rely upon.”
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people → be → that
The message also asked about a company which could clean off the graffiti.
uncertain
which → ask → graffiti
Meanwhile, two online fundraisers for the police officers have broken the £1 million barrier.
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fundraisers → break → barrier
A GoFundMe page organised by the Cleveland Police Federation has reached more than £959,000 by Wednesday morning while another GoFundMe page for them had reached over £45,000.
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page → organise → 45,000
Inquests were due to open on Thursday morning for the two officers while hearings for the young men in the Passat were scheduled for the afternoon at Teesside Magistrates’ Court.
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hearings → open → Court
Police have previously said that the five young men in the Passat may have had links to “serious and organised criminal activity”.
uncertain
men → say → activity
Four of the five young men in the car had previous criminal convictions and were believed to be associated with another car which was seen ramming properties earlier that morning.
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which → have → properties
Cleveland Police has previously said that on the morning of the collision, it received several reports of two vehicles being driven dangerously.
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vehicles → say → reports
The first vehicle, believed to be a Volvo XC60, was witnessed ramming properties in the Middlesbrough area.
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vehicle → believe → area
The second vehicle, a Volkswagen Passat, is believed to have been associated with the activities of the Volvo.
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vehicle → believe → Volvo
Police said both vehicles were operating with cloned number plates but were picked up by automated number plate recognition technology.
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vehicles → say → technology
The Volvo XC60 involved in the initial reports has been traced and recovered in Middlesbrough.
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XC60 → involve → Middlesbrough
Pc Blades and Pc Clough were not involved in the original pursuit, but had been called to the area to assist with the search for the Passat.
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Blades → involve → Passat
Family members described former Civil Nuclear Constabulary officer Pc Clough as “our hero” who was “always on public duty”.
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who → describe → duty
In a statement issued by Cleveland Police, Pc Blades’ wife called him “my beloved husband, my best friend, and the most devoted father to our two young boys”.
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wife → issue → boys
Police said there was no evidence that filming of the activities on Friday night and Saturday morning was “for the purposes of TikTok”.
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filming → say → TikTok
Saddington was reported to have previously shared clips of dangerous driving.
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Saddington → report → driving
Speaking to Channel 5 News from a supermarket in London, the Prime Minister was asked if there is anything the Government can do to crack down on the “growing problem online of the police being goaded and provoked”.
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police → speak → problem
Andy Burnham said: “There’s always something we can do and the glorification of dangerous driving is an appalling trend, and it needs to be challenged, and that means everybody playing their part to stop it, including the tech companies.”
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that → say → companies
Pressed on whether he would be asking tech companies to take down such content, he added: “I’m waiting for a full investigation into what happened at the weekend, but people can be sure that we’ll take action off all of the issues that are coming out.”
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that → press → issues
