PC Matthew Blades' Badge Number Worn at Funeral as Every UK Force Sent a Final Salute

Hundreds of police officers from across the UK lined a Hartlepool street on Wednesday for the funeral of PC Matthew Blades, the 37-year-old officer killed in a wrong-way crash on the A66 last month.

PC Blades and his colleague, 38-year-old PC Tom Clough, died on 22 August when their marked armed response vehicle collided head-on with a Volkswagen Passat travelling the wrong way near South Bank, close to Middlesbrough.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct said the Passat had earlier been linked to suspected criminal activity and had been pursued by officers for almost seven minutes before the chase was called off, 10 seconds before the crash.

Five young men in the car, aged between 17 and 23, also died.

Final Salute Outside St Joseph's

Outside St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, where PC Blades worshipped while growing up, Hutton Avenue became a corridor of dark uniforms and lowered flags. Officers from Cleveland Police stood alongside colleagues from forces across the UK, each wearing patches bearing the names of PC Blades and PC Clough.

Standard bearers from every UK force lined the route. As the hearse approached, led by a single Cleveland Police motorcycle, flags dipped in sequence. On the roof of the car, a single word was spelled out in flowers: 'Dad'.

The coffin, draped in a Union flag, was carried into the church by uniformed officers as pipers played 'Amazing Grace'. Mourners gathered several rows deep along the street, some bowing their heads, others applauding quietly as the cortege passed. Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller greeted mourners at the entrance to the church.

The congregation included policing minister Sarah Jones and Home Office minister Anna Turley, whose Redcar constituency includes the stretch of road where the crash happened, alongside representatives from the North East Ambulance Service and the Great North Air Ambulance.

Former colleagues from PC Blades' earlier career as an English teacher at Carmel College in Darlington also attended. The college has remembered him as an 'intelligent, kind and approachable teacher'.

Life Feels Unbearably Quiet Without Him

Speaking on behalf of the Blades family, Cleveland Police Federation chair Lauren Somerville said officers had been staggered by the public response, with flowers arriving at stations and messages sent from as far away as Australia, France and the United States.

'The support has been overwhelming and it has been comforting,' she said, adding that even small gestures on the street, a nod or a quick 'thank you' to officers, had given the force 'so much strength'.

Somerville said Cleveland Police had felt the loss of both Blades and Clough intensely.

'I think the common feeling has been a sense of duty and a sense of pride, doing everything we can to make it perfect.'

In a statement shared by the federation, PC Blades' widow said there were no words powerful enough to express the heartbreak of losing her beloved best friend, her husband and father to their beautiful boys, especially in such tragic and unimaginable circumstances.

'We miss everything about him, but perhaps most of all, we miss his laughter, his silly jokes and the way he could always make everyone smile, even when we least expected it,' she added.

'He was the joker of the family, the one who brought light and laughter into every room, and life feels unbearably quiet without him.'

Tributes From Westminster and the Church

Andy Burnham told MPs he wanted to send 'sympathies to the hundreds of people who will gather today at the funeral of PC Matthew Blades, including many serving police officers'. He added thanks 'for their service and their work to keep our communities safe'.

The Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle said it was holding PC Blades, his colleagues and all those affected in prayer, noting that he 'gave his life in service to others'. Roads around St Joseph's, including Hutton Avenue, St Paul's Road and South Road, were closed for the procession.

PC Blades is survived by his wife and two young sons.