Another house in Middlesbrough was rammed today amid fears of an escalating outbreak of gang violence in the town after a girl and her aunt were killed in a house fire.
Valentina Foster, seven, and Natalie McDonald, 34, died in the blaze near South Bank, which is close to where the collision that killed seven people on the A66 took place on Saturday.
Two men, aged 31 and 23, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and remain in custody amid concerns the incident was a revenge attack linked to the crash.
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 the warped metal fence lying across the lawn.
A neighbour said this morning: ‘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.
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
Valentina Foster, seven, and her aunt Natalie McDonald, 34, died in the house fire yesterday
Police officers at the scene of the Grangetown house fire this morning
‘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?’
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 about this morning’s crash, 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.
‘Our investigation is in its early stages and it has not yet been confirmed whether this incident is linked to wider organised crime. We will continue to have a pro-active police presence in the area and work to identify those responsible.’
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’.
A group gathered in Middlesbrough yesterday in memory of three of the five young men who died
Blue smoke from flares filled the air outside the East Middlesbrough Events Centre yesterday
Friends and relatives of three of the men who died congregated to remember them yesterday
Messages remembering the young men spray-painted on East Middlesbrough Events Centre
Community group Active Tees Valley, which operates the venue, has criticised the vandalismCommunity 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’.
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 will open at Teesside Magistrates’ Court today for all seven who died – with hearings for the officers in the morning and the five young men in the afternoon.
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 Worthy, was rammed by a vehicle.
Theo Rae and Cole Worthy (right), both 17, were among those who died in the A66 crash
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
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.
It comes as detectives continue to question two men, aged 23 and 31, who were arrested on suspicion of murder after the house fire in Grangetown – around a mile from the crash site – on Wednesday morning.
Cleveland Police would not rule out a link between the blaze at an end-of-terrace property in Grangetown and the crash at South Bank.
In addition to the two deaths from the fire, a 48-year-old woman remains in a critical condition at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. Three other people suffered injuries which are believed to be non-life-threatening.
A male relative of Valentina, the girl who died in the house fire, posted a tribute to one of the young men killed in Saturday’s crash – sharing a photo with Mr Matusiak and writing: ‘Till we meet again Tuz’.
Today, tributes left outside the house included a photo of the aunt and her niece among bouquets of flowers and toys, with the words: ‘RIP Natalie and Valentina you will be missed’.
Among the toys was a Care Bear and a teddy bear with the note: ‘Now she dances with butterflies Valentina’.
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
Police at the scene of the fatal crash on the A66 in South Bank near Middlesbrough on Saturday
Another message said: ‘Valentina what a lovely young girl, so sad, RIP’.
The street of the house fire has reopened but a strong police presence remained outside the home this morning.
Asked about the incidents, Prime Minister Andy Burnham told reporters during a visit to South Wales today: ‘Obviously we’re offering all of the support that the authorities need.
‘The important thing, it’s a terribly tragic event that’s happened with the loss of a young woman and her seven-year-old niece.’
He continued: ‘Utterly devastating, and I’m sure there’s a whole community that is grieving, not just what happened at the weekend, and particularly we should stress our deepest respect for the police officers lost in the line of duty and sending our sympathies to their families.
‘And we will obviously make sure that the support is there for them going forward.
‘The only thing I can say this morning is there is an investigation underway. It will be the fullest possible investigation. The authorities will have all of the support that they need.
‘We do need to understand the extent to which they may be connected, but they may not be. So I think it’s too early to jump to conclusions.
‘But what we can say at this point in time is that all of the support will be provided to get to the heart of what has happened here.’
Former Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston said the string of incidents in the area was ‘heartbreaking to see – not just the loss of life but the further scarring of once proud communities’.
He said: ‘More incidents are happening and it looks like they’re related. Everyone’s praying that this peters out. If it doesn’t more innocent lives could be at risk.
‘Cleveland Police is a troubled force but it has first-class men and women on the ground.
‘Policing everywhere became too full of empathy and tolerance – Middlesbrough needs solid and unflinching intolerance of crime. Not just this week but always.’
