A live Sky News broadcast from Middlesbrough was disrupted after a member of the public repeatedly shouted allegations blaming police for the A66 collision which killed seven people.
The interruption happened as Sky News reported from Middlesbrough following the opening of inquests into those who died in Saturday’s devastating wrong-way crash.
During the broadcast, a man could be heard repeatedly shouting “the police killed them” and referring to officers as “rats”, forcing the live report to be brought to an end.
The claims come amid questions from relatives and friends of some of the five young men who died in the Volkswagen Passat about the circumstances surrounding the police pursuit before the collision.
However, information presented at the opening of the inquests states that the pursuit had been abandoned after the Passat entered the A66 against the flow of traffic.
Moments later, the Passat collided head-on with a marked Cleveland Police vehicle travelling correctly along the carriageway.
The police vehicle involved in the fatal collision had not been directly involved in the pursuit.
Seven people killed
PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37, were travelling in the marked police vehicle and died at the scene.
Five people travelling in the Passat were also killed: Michael Robert Cahill, 23; Jacob Matusiak, 23; Makai Saddington, 18; Theo Rae, 17; and Cole Worthy, 17.
At Teesside Coroner’s Court on Thursday, the coroner heard that the Passat had been involved in a police pursuit shortly before the crash.
After the vehicle entered the A66 travelling in the wrong direction, pursuing officers aborted the pursuit. The fatal collision happened moments later.
PC Blades suffered fatal head and neck injuries, while PC Clough died from neck injuries, according to provisional causes of death given as their inquests were opened.
Family members ‘want answers’
Relatives of some of those travelling in the Passat have publicly questioned whether the pursuit should have been terminated sooner.
A cousin of one of the occupants told Sky News earlier this week: “We were told the chase should have been called off earlier. If it had been called off earlier, lives might have been saved.”
Those concerns will ultimately need to be considered against the evidence gathered by investigators. The precise circumstances surrounding the pursuit and collision remain subject to formal investigation and the coronial process.
The deaths of PC Clough and PC Blades have prompted an outpouring of support, with a fundraiser established for their families passing £1 million.
Investigations into the events leading to the collision remain ongoing.
