A day after the Hartlepool service, another long line of uniforms formed in Redcar for PC Tom Clough, the 38-year-old colleague who died in the same A66 collision. Clough had served in the British Army on tours of Iraq and Afghanistan between 2006 and 2012 as a lance corporal with the Royal Logistic Corps, later joining the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and British Transport Police before Cleveland Police. His funeral cortège at Kirkleatham Walled Gardens was flanked by soldiers in ceremonial dress and veterans wearing medals. Standard bearers from every UK force again lowered their flags. Hundreds of officers lined the approach road. Cleveland Police Federation chair Lauren Somerville said Clough’s partner wanted the public to know that the outpouring of support had brought real strength and that Tom would have been amazed and grateful.

People who had worked with him years earlier contacted the federation to say every force that ever had him was privileged. Chief Constable Victoria Fuller described both men as brave, committed professionals who put the public before themselves. The same floral and ceremonial traditions seen the day before were repeated: black armbands, idenтιтy patches bearing both collar numbers, and a heavy presence of emergency service colleagues from the ambulance service and air ambulance. Family members later issued their own thanks, saying the dignity and kindness shown after the two separate funerals had helped carry them through the darkest days.

The crash that killed seven people in total continues to generate questions about the aborted pursuit, cloned plates and the decision to send an armed response vehicle looking for the Pᴀssat. Yet the funerals themselves focused less on those unanswered details and more on the two men who never came home. Clough’s military service added an extra layer of ceremony that many veterans said felt fitting. Officers who had stood in Hartlepool the previous day returned in Redcar, some still wearing the same armbands. The public who lined the pavements clapped as the procession pᴀssed.

One former colleague said the two funerals felt like a single extended farewell to a pair of officers who had been on duty together when the unthinkable happened. The £1.2 million fund remained open in spirit even after it formally closed, with messages of support still arriving from around the world. Those who attended both services remarked on how quickly the police family can ᴀssemble when one of its own is lost.

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/pc-matthew-blades-funeral-a66-crash-police-middlesbrough