Anna Turley Defends Tribute to 7 A66 Crash Victims as Row Engulfs Police Deaths

Q: Did police really ask an MP to mourn suspected criminals alongside fallen officers?

There is no independent confirmation that Cleveland Police asked Anna Turley to mourn the five men alongside the two officers. Turley has said the force “specifically requested” that she “pay tribute to all victims in any message,” arguing this reflected police efforts to support every bereaved family immediately after the crash. She also said that when she posted her Facebook tribute, she did not yet know the identities of the five men in the Passat, apart from naming PCs Matthew Blades and Tom Clough. But Cleveland Police has not backed up that claim publicly. Multiple reports say the force declined to confirm or deny Turley’s account. The area’s police and crime commissioner also said police do not issue media advice on incidents, which cuts against the idea of a formal request. What is established is that all seven people died in the same collision, and that police later identified the five men in the Passat after the initial public reaction. Investigators say the car had been involved in “serious criminal activity,” was believed to be using cloned plates, and had been pursued until about 10 seconds before the crash. However, at the time of Turley’s original tribute, those details and identities were not fully public. So the answer is unresolved. Turley says police asked for an inclusive tribute; Cleveland Police has not confirmed it. Without corroboration from the force, her account remains unverified rather than proven false.

Q: How did an assisting police vehicle become the tragic target of a fleeing car?

The assisting police vehicle was struck because it was in the area searching for the Volkswagen Passat just as the fleeing car turned onto the A66 and drove the wrong way into its path. According to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, Cleveland Police had been pursuing the Passat for just under seven minutes after reports of serious criminal activity and after its cloned plates were detected by ANPR. When the Passat entered the A66 against the flow of traffic, officers abandoned the pursuit. About 10 seconds later, at around 3:39am, the Passat collided head-on with a marked armed response vehicle. Investigators have said the armed response car carrying PCs Matthew Blades and Tom Clough was not one of the vehicles involved in the chase. It had been deployed separately to assist in locating the Passat in the wider search area. That placed it on the correct side of the dual carriageway at the same moment the Passat came toward it in the wrong lane. In short, the police vehicle did not become a “target” in the deliberate sense suggested by the question. Based on the evidence released so far, it appears to have been an unintended but catastrophic collision caused by the fleeing car’s wrong-way entry onto the A66 during an aborted pursuit. The IOPC investigation is continuing.

3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Aug 25

Anna Turley said Cleveland Police had asked her to pay tribute to all seven people killed in Saturday’s A66 crash, after criticism that her Facebook message blurred the distinction between two officers and five men in the other car.
Nick Timothy accused the Home Office minister of putting the five men “on a par” with PCs Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38, who died when their car was hit by a vehicle travelling on the wrong side of the road.
Turley rejected any “moral equivalence” and said she knew only the officers’ identities when she laid flowers, but Cleveland Police would neither confirm nor deny her claim and the area’s police commissioner said the force does not give media advice on incidents.
The crash near Middlesbrough has been linked by detectives to “serious criminal activity”: the Passat was being pursued until 10 seconds before impact, was believed to be using cloned plates, and police on Tuesday announced 5 more arrests, taking the total to 17.