A man has been charged after footage emerged of a Wolves fan appearing to make light of the A66 crash tragedy at a Middlesbrough match.
The 20-year-old, from Walsall in the West Midlands, has been charged with a public order offence and has been remanded in custody to appear at court in Wolverhampton today (October 13).
It follows an incident at Boro’s 150th anniversary match at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday, where a viral video showed a Wolves fan holding up a message saying: “Police killed your own”.
The “distressing behaviour” appeared to mock the tragic A66 crash at South Bank on August 22, which took the lives of PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough as well as five others.
Cleveland Police arrested a man following the incident and yesterday evening confirmed he had been charged .
Cleveland Police’s dedicated football officer (DFO), PC Chris Hilton, said: “I want to thank the public for their support during this investigation, and thanks also go to West Midlands Police for their collaborative efforts.
“I hope this robust and swift action demonstrates our commitment to making sure football matches are a safe and enjoyable environment for all”.
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The South Bank crash took place at 3.39am on August 22 when a Volkswagen, driving on the wrong side of the road, collided head-on with another marked police car, which was on the correct carriageway.
It followed an earlier police chase, which was abandoned 17 seconds before the crash.
The five people in the Passat - Michael Cahill, Theo Rae, Cole Worthy, Jakub Matusiak and Makai Saddington - all died.
An Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation remains ongoing but ruled out police contact with the VW prior to the crash.