Two police officers sustained fatal head and neck injuries in a head-on crash on the A66 near Middlesbrough after a car travelling in the wrong direction struck their marked police vehicle, an opening inquest has heard.
PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, both died in the collision on Saturday that killed seven people in total.
During brief proceedings at Teesside Coroner’s Court on Thursday, inquests into the deaths of both officers were opened and adjourned. Coroner Paul Appleton confirmed that PC Blades had been identified by his wife, while PC Clough was identified by his partner.
Medical evidence gave the provisional cause of death for PC Blades as head and neck injuries, with PC Clough suffering fatal neck injuries.
Describing the incident, Mr Appleton noted that the crash took place in the early hours of 22 August at South Bank on the A66, involving a Volkswagen Passat and a police car. He informed the court that "all occupants of both vehicles were sadly pronounced dead at the scene".
Outlining details of the events prior to the crash, Mr Appleton said: "At this stage it is understood that there had been a police pursuit of the Volkswagen Passat.
"It entered the A66 carriageway against the flow of traffic, at which stage the pursuit was aborted.
"A short time after … the Volkswagen Passat collided with a police vehicle, which had not been directly involved in the prior pursuit."
Separate inquest openings were scheduled for Thursday afternoon regarding the five individuals travelling in the Passat, who also died at the scene: 17-year-olds Cole Worthy and Theo Rae, Makai Saddington, 18, alongside Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak, both aged 23.
A community group urged people on Wednesday not to graffiti their buildings with tributes to the young men who died in the crash.
The public plea came as fundraisers for the two police officers who were killed in the collision near Middlesbrough on broke the £1 million barrier.
Cleveland Police have arrested 17 people following the crash between a VW Passat, which was heading in the wrong direction on the dual-carriageway, and a marked armed response vehicle.
