Warring gangs are spreading terror by deliberately ramming vehicles into family homes in the town where seven people died in a car chase. 

Five young men died after the Volkswagen Passat they were driving the wrong way down the A66 at South Bank, near Middlesbrough, smashed into a marked police car, also killing two police officers.

Police have made 17 arrests after Saturday's crash, which killed Police Constables Tom Clough, 38, Matthew Blades, 37, as well as Michael Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, and Cole Worthy, 17.

It has since emerged that houses belonging to the parents of two of the men – Worthy and Rae – were rammed by rival gangs just before the A66 smash. 

Meanwhile on Wednesday, seven-year-old Valentina Foster and her aunt Natalie McDonald, 34, were killed in a house fire in Grangetown, around one mile from the A66 crash, although police say it is not linked.

And on Thursday, another house on Steele Crescent, South Bank, was rammed into by a car and a 39-year-old man was stabbed on Sedgemoor Road, Eston. 

Speaking to the Daily Mail this week, Middlesbrough locals described a tense atmosphere in the town. Some said they felt too scared to leave their homes at night or report crimes to police for fear of reprisals.

Ace Rose Robinson Coates, 17, said: 'Organised crime is more prominent now than ever. You can turn down a side street, especially as a young lad or lass, and you could get stabbed.

'I come here at night, but never by myself. I do not feel safe, especially as a young lass my age. Crime has always been a problem here. Some of it comes from poverty, while some is just violence for the sake of it.'

The Daily Mail has identified at least 12 separate incidents in which vehicles have been driven into buildings in Middlesbrough over the past two years.

While the majority were ram-raids targeting commercial premises, others involved family homes suspected of being caught up in gangland feuds.

The Daily Mail revealed on Tuesday that the initial chase that led to the A66 crash was sparked after a rival gang rammed a Volvo XC60 into the home of Gye Worthy, father of crash victim Cole Worthy. 

Mr Worthy's home was struck at around 3am on Saturday in an alleged gang feud shortly before the youths began speeding through the town in a Volkswagen Passat.

It is understood the house was hit twice by the Volvo, which deliberately reversed into the front window, causing extensive damage.

Within minutes, a VW Passat carrying Mr Worthy's son and four friends was racing through the streets of Middlesbrough in pursuit of the Volvo. The Passat was later spotted by a police patrol before crashing moments later.

While Gye Worthy had no links to criminality, the youths themselves had amassed lengthy criminal records ranging from theft, harassment and assault to drug dealing and knife possession.

It has also emerged that a rival gang also rammed the home belonging to the mother of Theo Rae moments before the A66 crash.

The woman's Audi, which was parked on the driveway, was smashed into the front of her house in the early hours of Saturday morning. 

Rae had reportedly been stalking the streets of Middlesbrough in the Passat searching for the rival gang responsible for the attack on his mother's home.

He was joined in the car by Worthy, Cahill, Matusiak and Saddington as they sought revenge.

Three properties linked to the gang were targeted by rivals in a Volvo XC60 in the early hours of Saturday morning, it is understood.

But it was the attack on Rae's mother's house – as well as an alleged attack on his grandmother's property – that angered him and his friends the most, sources told The Sun.

A house on Steele Crescent, South Bank, was also rammed into by a car in the early hours of Thursday morning – although the property was empty. 

In a separate ramming incident in May, a gang of masked thugs hotwired a tractor before driving it at full speed into a family home.

Photos showed the front of the tractor embedded in a downstairs room. Windows had been smashed and much of the brickwork at the front of the house torn away.

The family were not at home because intruders had allegedly forced their way into the property and trashed the interior weeks earlier, leaving it unoccupied when the attack took place.

Earlier this month, Nathan Blagg appeared at Teesside Crown Court, where he admitted aggravated vehicle taking and criminal damage.

The 28-year-old had previously pleaded guilty before magistrates to affray and a further count of aggravated vehicle taking.

He will now face a lengthy custodial sentence, the judge said. 

Middlesbrough has a long history of deindustrialisation, and around half of its neighbourhoods rank among the most deprived in England.

The overall crime rate stands at around 150 offences per 1,000 people, making it one of the highest outside central London. 

In 2025-26, there were 21.7 homicides per million people, the highest figure recorded by any police force area in that reporting year.

Police have arrested 17 people after the A66 crash, which followed a police pursuit, as part of investigations into alleged organised crime.

On Friday, Cleveland Police said Kai Inico, who was arrested on Monday on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group, has been charged with possession with intent to supply a class B drug.

The force said four other people arrested by Cleveland Police on Monday have also been bailed – a 16-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man arrested on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group, a 55-year-old man arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and a 23-year-old man arrested on suspicion of threats to kill.

Earlier this week, two people were charged with offences and appeared in court and ten others were bailed.

Meanwhile, two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the fire which killed an aunt and her seven-year-old niece and injured four others in Grangetown.

It emerged yesterday that the uncle of one of the young men killed in the A66 crash was recently sentenced after driving the wrong way down the same dual carriageway.

Aaron Saddington, 23, the uncle of Makai Saddington, drove against traffic on the A66, allegedly in a bid to evade police.

He pleaded guilty in June to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance, according to reports.

Two months later, his nephew Makai Saddington died alongside four friends on the same stretch of road while they were fleeing police.

Ann Field, an 80-year-old retail worker, fears for her grandchildren growing up among Middlesbrough's gangs.

'Sometimes, all I can smell is weed in the town. It used to be a lovely place, but I avoid it now,' she said.

'I have a 14-year-old grandson and he has a tracker on him so we can see where he is.

'Sometimes I go to Aldi in South Bank, close to where the crash happened, and it's like another world.

'There's so much shouting and swearing at the kids. It's the norm to them. The language is horrible.

'There's no way I would go to South Bank at night. I'd be far too scared.'

Allan Scott, a 78-year-old retired truck driver, traces much of the unrest back to drugs.

'Drugs are the biggest culprit. It's a way of life for them,' he said.

'Years ago, people would grass each other up to the police, but they don't now.

'People are too scared to go to the police. There is an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.'

One woman, a carer, said: 'The car crash, the fire, the stabbing, it's too much.

'I don't go out at night. I am too afraid, and I am also scared for my family. There are break-ins, violence, drugs.

'It's gang warfare. Its gangs and drugs and a mixture of everything. I come out during the day, but at 6pm I lock the doors and I don't leave the house again.

'I've had cameras installed because I am so worried. There's a definite atmosphere of fear.

'The police don't do enough. This has been going on for years and years and now it's escalated.'

Another local added: 'What's gone on is just awful. It's gang-related, and what happened to that little girl, who died in the fire, is just horrendous.

'Where will this all end? I am worried now that things will escalate further, and there will be a full-blown riot.

'Whatever the child's family might have done, she didn't deserve to die. It's shocking, awful. There's always been a problem with gangs in the area, but it's largely hidden.

'Now, a gang has been upset, and it's all out in the open. We can see it with our own eyes, and it's terrifying.'

A local pensioner said: 'What's happening in Middlesbrough is shameful. I have lived here all my life and been happy here, but I am now terrified for my family.

'I have grandkids, and great-grandkids, and I am scared for my young ones going out in it. And I now worry how the very young ones will turn out.'

Friends of the five dead youths have sprayed graffiti across the town reading 'RIP the boys' and 'f*** TMF', believed to stand for 'The Middlesbrough Feds [police]'.

Community leaders have decided to leave the graffiti in place for fear that removing it could trigger further disorder.

On Thursday night, they also torched several cars and set off fireworks at a balloon release vigil for Michael Cahill – one of the young men who died on the A66.

At least five cars were set ablaze in a horse field about 15 miles from Middlesbrough near Haswell in County Durham, with the startled animals looking on from afar.

Anna Turley, the Labour MP for Redcar, who is also a Home Office minister, told BBC News: 'Seeing illegal bikes and quad bikes rampaging, and fires and fireworks being set off only heightens people's sense of fear and lawlessness.

'While I understand people are grieving and upset, we cannot allow illegal activity to be excused and unchecked.'

Former Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston said the town was 'on its knees' – as he warned the ongoing feuds between criminal gangs could escalate further.

Cleveland Police, one of the smallest forces in the country, has seen its resources stretched to breaking point this week.

The Government has responded with 200 extra police officers from around the country, 'from detectives to armed response', being dispatched after MPs in the area appealed for help.