Police abandoned the pursuit of a car seconds before it crashed going the wrong way down a dual carriageway, killing all five men aboard and two officers, investigators have said.
Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jacob Matusiak, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and Cole Robert Worthy, 17, died when a Volkswagen Passat struck a Cleveland Police vehicle on Saturday on the A66 near Middlesbrough.
PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, who were on the correct side of the road and were helping search for the car, were also killed.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the force had been pursuing the Passat following reports of “numerous incidents” linked to it.
The watchdog, which launched an immediate investigation, said the Passat was believed to be using cloned registration plates which activated an ANPR camera.
Analysis of footage from one of the police vehicles showed the pursuit lasted just under seven minutes before the Passat travelled on to the wrong side of the A66, at which point officers “abandoned” it, the IOPC said.
The pursuing officers continued to travel on the correct side of the carriageway but approximately 10 seconds later at about 03:39 BST, the Passat collided with the vehicle of PC Blades and PC Clough, who were “in the area to assist in a search” for the car, a spokesman said.
Security footage from a house on Lime Road in Middlesbrough appears to show a car being pursued by police vehicles three minutes before the crash.