Death of policemen in England 'a terrible reminder' of danger of joyriding

Undated handout photos issued by Cleveland Police of Pc Tom Clough (left) and PC Matthew Blades, who died when a car going in the wrong direction hit a police car on the A66 near Middlesbrough, England Issue date: Sunday August 23, 2026.

Garda members have said the killing of two police officers in a ‘wrong-way’ road crash in England is “another terrible reminder” of the dangers posed by ‘joyriders’ and the risks to police.

Police constables Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38, were driving a marked police car along a dual carriageway when a car carrying five passengers on the wrong side of the road hit them.

The two officers, and all five passengers of the other car, were killed.

The horrific crash happened last Saturday and followed a brief pursuit by police which was aborted as soon as the car entered the wrong side of the A66 motorway near Middlesbrough, in the north of England.

The incident came a week after a similar tragedy in Ireland when a car with five passengers fled gardaí and drove the wrong way down the M9. Gardaí did not follow them, as per policy.

On the second occasion, the gang drove the wrong way down the M9, they collided with a car carrying three sisters and a child.

The five youths were killed, and the passengers of the other car were injured — two of them seriously.

The scene on the M9 northbound at Junction 3 in Co Kildare where number of people  died and others have been seriously injured after a head-on collision between two cars. 

Numerous videos circulated online, including on TikTok, purporting to show some of the passengers joyriding in the hours before the crash.

British reports suggest that one of the five passengers in England had previously shared videos showing dangerous driving.

“It’s another terrible reminder of the dangers from these young fellas,” one experienced garda in Munster said.

“As a garda, it is always in your head that you never know what to expect, either on the road or on the street. In my service, I have experienced some very hairy incidents.” 

He said the UK incident and the M9 tragedy make it clear that there is “definitely a need for change” to protect gardaí on the job: “The law needs to change to bring in indemnity for gardaí — for appropriate and proportionate pursuit, corresponding to training.”

He said this is not a new problem and that gardaí, and the Garda Representative Association, have been highlighting it for “10 to 11 years”.

A garda based in Dublin agreed and said it was “reckless” to leave gardaí in the continuing situation where they only have “basic” driver training — known as CPD1 or “chief’s permission” (driving under the permission of the chief superintendent).

“There’s a huge cohort that can’t even turn on the blue lights and siren if they are pursuing a car or responding to an emergency,” the garda said. “If they do, they can be disciplined.” 

Many gardaí have stressed they do not want to be in a position of an active pursuit down the wrong way of a motorway, as it could make matters worse.

But the garda in Munster does see value in allowing a garda car to follow the vehicle and turn on the blue lights, which could warn cars driving up the correct side of the road of danger ahead.

He said that if gardaí can get joyriders into a safer situation, that the pursuit training will then provide them with the skills to carry out “hard stops” or “box in” a car.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has repeatedly said that, because of EU presidency obligations, it will not be until the start of 2027 when pursuit training can commence, adding it would take “at least a year” to complete.