Police from all forces and Army veterans gather for A66 crash officer’s funeral

Hundreds gathered for the ceremony at Kirkleatham Walled Gardens in Redcar, Teesside, for PC Tom Clough, 38, who was killed alongside PC Matthew Blades in the early hours of August 22.

PC Clough served in the British Army from 2006 to 2012 and was a lance corporal with the Royal Logistic Corps. His last unit was 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment.

The funeral cortege was flanked by soldiers in ceremonial dress and veterans displaying their medals.

Hundreds of police officers lined Plantation Road and the road into the Walled Gardens.

Standard bearers from every force in the country lowered their flags as the hearse passed by.

His coffin was draped in the Union Flag and had a police helmet on top.

Four mounted police officers led the cortege, with police motorbike riders and a Cleveland Police marked Audi with blue lights flashing behind.

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

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

Brian Dunn, 89, and wife Iris, 87, took a train, bus and then walked from their home in Stockton to pay their respects.

Mr Dunn, who said he was proud to have done national service, said: “It is heart-warming to see so many people here.”

Mrs Dunn said: “We both felt it was important to be here.

“The police work so hard, they do their best, and it is never appreciated, we all know that.”

A woman from Redcar, who declined to be named, added: “I came to pay my respects because it was terrible what happened.

“I came to show the police that the right part of society is behind them, most definitely.”

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

Ahead of the service, Cleveland Police Federation chairwoman Lauren Somerville said: “The family want everyone to know that the public’s support has brought them so much comfort.

“Tom was deeply loved by his colleagues.

“People have been contacting me that worked with Tom years and years ago.

“It would be an understatement to say that every single place that he served was privileged to have him with them.”

Ms Somerville said he was a much-loved partner, son and brother, and the “father” of his beloved sausage dog Frank.

She added: “Tom used to say there wouldn’t be anyone at his funeral and he couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Tom was described as giving everything to everybody.”

The service came a day after the funeral of PC Blades in his home town of Hartlepool.

Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller has previously said PC Blades and PC Clough were “brave, committed, professional people who put the public before themselves”.

An online fund has raised more than £1.2 million for the officers’ families.

PC Clough, 38, was killed alongside PC Matthew Blades in the early hours of August 22 after a head on collision with a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction.

Five young men in a VW Passat which had been involved in a police pursuit before the collision were also killed.

Cleveland Police previously said the five young men who were killed may have had links to organised crime.

Main photo: courtesy of Cleveland Police.

Category: deaths on duty