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Police and army mourn officer killed in crash

Several police officers in black uniforms with white gloves in a line while walking towards the camera. They are all men and most are wearing custodian helmets, but one man is wearing a blue army beret. Each officer has a number of colourful medals on the right breast of their blazers. There is another officer closer to the camera on the left who is out of focus. Many of them are carrying colourful flags. There is a large brick wall behind them.

Claudia Robinsonin Redcar and Evie LakeNorth East and Cumbria

10 September 2026, 05:30 BST

Updated 2 hours ago

Police officers and army veterans have gathered for the funeral of the second officer killed in a head-on crash.

PC Tom Clough, 38, died on the A66 in South Bank, near Middlesbrough, in the early hours of 22 August alongside his colleague PC Matthew Blades when a Volkswagen Passat hit their marked police car. Five young men in the Passat also died.

Members of the public also gathered at Kirkleatham Walled Gardens, in Redcar, for the funeral, along with family, friends and former colleagues from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary in Sellafield, Cumbria.

Cleveland Police Federation chair Lauren Somerville said PC Clough’s partner had said public support “brought them so much strength”.

The ceremonial procession made its way along Plantation Road towards the Walled Gardens, accompanied by the music of a lone piper.

The road was lined on both sides with standard bearers who had lowered their flags before the cortege went past.

At its head was a mounted police unit of four horses.

Immediately behind them came the hearse carrying PC Clough’s coffin, draped with the Union Flag and topped with his custodian helmet.

The hearse was flanked by officers in ceremonial dress escorting the coffin to the service.

Tom Clough smiling into the camera. He has short, brown hair which is slightly longer on the top and styled to the left. His shoulders and chest are visible and he is wearing a black uniform with a bulky vest which has 'police' written on it in white letters. He is standing in front of a police car which is bright yellow with lights on the roof. There is a grey metal wall in front of the car.

It was a more private affair than Thursday’s funeral where hundreds of members of the public lined the streets of Hartlepool to pay their respects to PC Blades.

The slow procession started in silence until a piper began to play a lament.

Some colleagues wore PC Clough and PC Blades’ identity patches on their shoulders.

Policing minister Sarah Jones, local MP Anna Turley and Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen were in attendance.

Police officers dressed in all black line the street Tom Clough's coffin is being transported down. The officers have their heads bowed and they are each holding a different flag which is resting on the ground out in front of them. Four mounted officers on horses lead the cortege with multiple black vehicles behind them, along with army soldiers dressed in brown suits and on-duty police officers in yellow hi-vis. There are large trees lining the road with leaves overhanging on the left.

PC Clough had served in the British Army from 2006 to 2012 and was a lance corporal with the Royal Logistics Corps.

His last unit was 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment.

A line of police officers in all black uniform looking emotional with their heads bowed. There are six male officers and two female, some wearing peaked caps and others custodian helmets. There is a woman in the centre of the line who looks more emotional than the others and has her eyes closed while crying.

Officers had been pursuing the Passat seconds before it collided with PC Blades and PC Clough’s car on the dual carriageway.

The pair had been looking for the Passat after its cloned registration plates triggered an automated number plate recognition camera, although they were not involved in the pursuit, according to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

The Passat’s occupants – Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and Cole Robert Worthy, 17 – also died.

After he left the Army, PC Clough joined the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and worked at Sellafield, in Cumbria, then served with British Transport Police and finally joined Cleveland Police, where he was an armed response officer.

Somerville said she had “the privilege” of speaking to his partner.

“The family are grateful for all of the support from the public, it’s brought them so much strength,” she said.

“She wants people to know that Tom wasn’t just a police officer, he was a partner and a brother and a son and most importantly a father to a sausage dog called Frank, who was the love of his life.”

More than £1.2m was raised to help the families of PC Blades and PC Clough, a fundraiser which was set up by Cleveland Police Federation.

“Tom used to say that he didn’t think anybody would come to his funeral and he was wrong,” Somerville said.

“He was so wrong.

“He was described as giving his everything to everybody.”

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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