Key facts
- Nine people have died in Teesside in a week, including seven in an A66 crash and two in a house fire.
- MPs are calling for increased government resources for local police and fire services.
- The A66 crash involved a police vehicle and a car that entered the carriageway against traffic.
- The house fire is being investigated as a deliberate act, with two men arrested on suspicion of murder.
- Local MPs attribute the need for more resources to years of underfunding and high crime levels.
Five Members of Parliament representing the Teesside area have formally requested additional resources for local police and fire services from the government. This appeal follows a week marked by two fatal incidents that claimed the lives of nine people, including two police officers and a young child.
The MPs highlighted that the communities they represent require "the strongest possible backing from the government." Their joint statement comes in the wake of a head-on collision on the A66 that resulted in seven fatalities, including two police officers, and a house fire in Grangetown where a 34-year-old woman and her seven-year-old niece died. Police suspect the fire was deliberately started.
Andy McDonald, the Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, indicated that organized crime, gangs, and the drug trade are likely factors in the recent events. He criticized the long-term underfunding of Cleveland police, stating that the force's budget is disproportionately low compared to the high levels of crime it handles. He urged ministers to allocate resources based on demand.
The prime minister acknowledged the tragic events and assured that the government would provide necessary support to the authorities. However, he cautioned against premature conclusions regarding any connection between the Grangetown fire and the A66 crash, emphasizing the devastating loss of life.
Inquests into the A66 crash have been opened. The collision involved a police vehicle and a Volkswagen Passat that was reportedly traveling against the flow of traffic after a pursuit was aborted. The provisional causes of death for the two police officers, PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough, were head, neck, and neck injuries, respectively. The occupants of the Passat were identified as Cole Worthy, Theo Rae, Makai Saddington, Michael Robert Cahill, and Jacob Matusiak.
Relatives of the house fire victims, Natalie McDonald and Valentina Foster, have insisted they had no connection to gangs or the A66 crash, describing their deaths as senseless. Two men, aged 23 and 31, have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the fire and remain in police custody.
The MPs, including Chris McDonald, Luke Myer, Jonathan Brash, and Anna Turley, met with the government's policing and fire minister to discuss the sustained pressures on local services, attributing the situation to years of underfunding, exacerbated by austerity measures.