Hundreds of police officers from across England have been drafted in to restore order in Middlesbrough amid fears the town is on the brink of descending into a gang war.
Violence, believed to be linked to five youths who were killed in a wrong-way crash on the A66 on Saturday, has spiralled across Teesside.
This afternoon, armed police swarmed a house on the Bankfield estate in Eston after a 39-year-old man was injured in a stabbing.
A house was also rammed by a vehicle this morning in South Bank.
The suspected knife attack took place just down the road from a suspicious house fire in Grangetown that claimed the lives of Valentina Foster, seven, and 34-year-old Natalie McDonald yesterday morning.
Two men, aged 31 and 23, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and remain in custody.
Cleveland Police said yesterday it was ‘keeping an open mind’ regarding the cause of the fire but could not ‘rule out any links to wider organised crime at this time’.
The force, which is one of the smallest in the country, has seen its resources stretched to breaking point this week.
The Government has now responded with 200 reinforcements after MPs in the area appealed for help.
Armed police on the scene of a suspected knife attack in Eston near Middlesbrough today
Valentina Foster, seven, and her aunt Natalie McDonald, 34, died in the house fire yesterday
A home in the South Bank area of Middlesbrough was rammed by a car in the early hours of Thursday
The decision was announced by Councillor Alec Brown of Redcar and Cleveland Council in a post on social media.
‘Over 200 extra police officers from forces around the country are here and are en route, from detectives to armed response,’ he wrote.
‘I will be sending a letter today to our Prime Minister asking for even more resources.’
‘People need to feel safe in their homes,’ Mr Brown added.
Middlesbrough has the highest crime rate in England excluding central London, and rival criminal groups have been spreading fear among residents.
Former mayor Andy Preston said the town was ‘on its knees’ – as he warned attacks between criminal gangs could escalate further in response to the house fire.
‘From this awful point, things could escalate or peter out,’ he told The Telegraph. ‘Escalation will be carnage and further wound the communities that are already on their knees.’
Mr Preston described Middlesbrough as England’s crime capital where criminals can do ‘what they want’ and dominate the streets.
He warned that ordinary people are now facing death threats, seeing guns shot at front doors and cars rammed into houses.
A group gathered in Middlesbrough yesterday in memory of three of the five young men who died
A house in Acklam, Middlesbrough, which is linked to the father of Cole Worthy, one of the young men who died in the A66 incident, was rammed by a vehicle before Saturday’s crash
Theo Rae and Cole Worthy (right), both 17, were among those who died in the A66 crash
Police were called to the fire, which caused extensive damage to the roof of the property in Grangetown, at 5.23am on Wednesday.
Valentina and Ms McDonald were confirmed dead, while another woman last night remained in a critical condition in hospital.
A further three people were being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Meanwhile, a terraced home less than two miles from the house fire was attacked in the early hours of this morning.
The front garden wall had been smashed, leaving bricks and a twisted metal fence strewn across the lawn.
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.’
Another said: ‘There was a massive series of bangs. A Jeep-type car slammed into the front wall and kept going back and forwards over it until it was smashed down.
‘It’s all part of the same stuff that’s been going down across South Bank and Grangetown.
‘It’s scary and you wonder what’s going to happen next. We’ve already seen a little kid killed down the road, what has to happen before people stop all this?’
Police officers patrol the scene following the residential fire in Grangetown
Emergency services at the scene of the fire in the Grangetown area of Middlesbrough
Cleveland Police confirmed it received calls at 12.34am this morning about the house-ramming incident – which follows another incident that had happened in the hours before the A66 crash.
In a statement, local policing superintendent Emily Harrison said: ‘The property was empty at the time and we have not currently received any reports of any injuries.
‘Officers are conducting enquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding this incident.’
Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, Andy McDonald, said gangs and the drug trade are ‘clearly featuring’ in a series of incidents in his area as he raised concerns about police funding in his area.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Mr McDonald said: ‘It does look, to all intents and purposes, as though there is a causal link with organised crime. But whatever it is, this is a series of appalling incidents.
‘It’s absolutely devastated our community, and it’s imperative that our people feel safe and secure in their homes and in their neighbourhoods.’
Asked whether gangs are involved, the Labour MP said: ‘It’s hard for me to be particular, but I think gangs are clearly featuring in this, as is the drugs trade, but I’ll leave Cleveland Police to be more particular about that because they’re across it.’
PC Matthew Blades, a father of two, was killed when his police vehicle was struck head-on
PC Tom Clough also died in the crash, ten seconds after a police pursuit had been called off
Asked whether he understands that people in the area no longer feel like they can report crimes for fear of retribution, he said: ‘That’s an observation that many people make, and I understand that.’
He added that Cleveland Police has been ‘underfunded for many, many years’ and that the funding formula ‘leaves us under-resourced’.
Mr McDonald told BBC Radio 4: ‘We do suffer those metropolitan levels of crime, and yet comparatively, our funding looks much more like a rural area, and it simply cannot continue like that.
‘We’ve got to put resources where the demand is most high, and that is Cleveland, and that’s the message to ministers.’
It comes as balaclava-clad men on motorbikes joined a balloon release in memory of three of the five young men who died in the A66 crash that killed two police officers.
Friends and relatives of Jacob Matusiak, 23, and 17-year-olds Cole Worthy and Theo Rae, congregated on a grassy area in Middlesbrough yesterday.
Blue smoke from flares filled the air and children were among those assembled next to the East Middlesbrough Events Centre, previously known as Middlebeck Social Club.
Messages have been spray-painted on the building reading: ‘RIP The Boys’, ‘Never Be Forgotten RIP The Lads’ and the initials of those in the car with ‘Rest easy boys’.
Community group Active Tees Valley, which operates the venue, has criticised the vandalism, saying that ‘damaging buildings that are being used to support local residents ultimately impacts the same community we are all trying to look after’.
Jakub Matusiak, 23, also died in the A66 crash in South Bank, Middlesbrough, on Saturday
Makai Saddington (left), 18, and Michael Cahill (right), 23, also died in the crash on Saturday
Police at the scene of the fatal crash on the A66 in South Bank near Middlesbrough on Saturday
The organisation added: ‘We would respectfully ask that community buildings and local facilities are not damaged or spray-painted. These buildings are here for the 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. Please respect our community spaces and the people who work hard to keep them running.’
The three young men died along with Michael Cahill, 23, and Makai Saddington, 18, when their Volkswagen Passat crashed on the A66 in South Bank on Saturday.
The five youths were pronounced dead at the scene after hitting a marked police car, also killing PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38.
Inquests opened today at Teesside Magistrates’ Court today for all seven who died.
During consecutive hearings that took place in the morning, Coroner Paul Appleton said PC Blades was identified by his wife, and PC Clough by his partner.
The provisional cause of death was said to be head and neck injuries for PC Blades, and neck injuries for PC Clough.
Mr Appleton told the hearing that ‘all occupants of both vehicles were sadly pronounced dead at the scene’.
‘At this stage it is understood that there had been a police pursuit of the Volkswagen Passat,’ he added.
‘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.’
In the afternoon, inquests were opened into the deaths of the five young men in the Volkswagen Passat.
Mr Appleton said their bodies were identified through fingerprint analysis.
The causes of death were said to be neck injuries for Mr Matusiak, head and torso injuries for Mr Cahill, head injuries for Mr Saddington and Mr Rae, and head and chest injuries for Mr Worthy.
Police have arrested 17 people following the crash, charging two of them and bailing the others, as part of investigations into alleged organised crime.
The Passat had been pursued by police following an earlier incident in which a house in the Acklam area of Middlesbrough, linked to Cole, was rammed by a vehicle.
The pursuit was aborted when the Passat went the wrong way down the A66.
Police have previously said the five men in the Passat may have had links to ‘serious and organised criminal activity’, and four of them have previous convictions.
PCs Blades and Clough were not involved in the original pursuit but had been called to the area to assist with the search for the Passat.
An online appeal to raise money for the officers’ families passed £1million yesterday.
