Hundreds of police officers were seen lining the streets on Wednesday for the funeral of a colleague killed in August’s horror collision on the A66.
Standard bearers represented every force in the UK at the service for PC Matthew Blades, 37, at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in his home town of Hartlepool.
He was killed alongside his colleague PC Tom Clough, 38, in what is thought to have been a gang rivalry-fuelled crash near Middlesbrough – in which five young men also died.
Some of the officers who lined the length of Hutton Avenue outside the red-brick church wore “thin blue line” patches with the words “Pc 2443 BLADES” and “Pc 3234 CLOUGH” on their uniforms.
PC Blades’s hearse bore a white and red floral tribute which read “Dad” on the roof for the married father-of-two.
Standard-bearers lowered their flags as the hearse, led by a police motorbike outrider, approached the church.
Four officers on horseback stood guard beside a cordon where hundreds of members of the public were also paying tribute.
Before the service, traffic officers in white caps hugged each other as they remembered PC Blades, who was an armed response officer.
Four pipers and a drummer processed in front of the funeral car and they played Amazing Grace as the coffin, covered by a Union Flag, was brought in.
Emergency services representatives from the North East Ambulance Service and Great North Air Ambulance were also present.
Standard bearers represented every force in the UK at the service for PC Matthew Blades
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Four pipers and a drummer processed in front of the funeral car and they played Amazing Grace as the coffin, covered by a Union Flag, was brought into the church
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Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller greeted mourners at the entrance to the church.
Policing minister Sarah Jones and Home Office minister Anna Turley also attended.
In a statement shared by Cleveland Police Federation, PC Blades’s widow said afterwards: “There are no words powerful enough to express the heartbreak of losing my beloved best friend, my husband and father to our beautiful boys, especially in such tragic and unimaginable circumstances.
“The heart of our family has been taken from us and from those who loved him far too soon.
“The pain of his absence will be felt every day, but so will the love he gave, the memories he created, and the precious place he will forever hold in the hearts of his family.
“He may no longer be here to hold our hands, but his love will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
HORROR ON THE A66 – READ MORE:
‘The heart of our family has been taken from us and from those who loved him far too soon,’ PC Blades’s widow said
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Some of the officers who lined the length of Hutton Avenue outside the red-brick church wore ‘thin blue line’ patches remembering the two slain policemen
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“He will be loved, remembered and missed beyond words, today, tomorrow and always.
“He will be incredibly proud and thankful for all the support that’s being given to us as a family.
“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.
“He was the joker of the family, the one who brought light and laughter into every room, and life feels unbearably quiet without him.
“Matt’s laughter may no longer fill the room, but the memories of his humour, his love and the happiness he brought us will stay in our hearts forever.
“We will miss him more than words could ever say, and we will love him always.”
In the Commons on Wednesday, the Prime Minister paid tribute to the slain officer, telling MPs: “I also want to send our sympathies to the hundreds of people who will gather today at the funeral of Pc Matthew Blades, including many serving police officers, and we send our thanks to them all for their service and their work to keep our communities safe.”
The funeral service took place at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in PC Blades’s home town of Hartlepool
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Traffic officers in white caps were seen embracing as they remembered PC Blades, who was an armed response officer
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Outside the church, Zara Lavender, 30, from Hartlepool, said: “I have come here to pay my respects to the officer, I thought it was important that people came out to show that.”
A former British Army soldier, who asked not to be named, explained why he came, saying: “You can see from the turnout that people wanted to get together.
“These guys did not deserve what happened to them – the police have a hard enough job as it is.”
The armed response officers were in a marked vehicle heading the right way down the A66 in the early hours of August 22 when they were hit by a Passat which had been involved in a police pursuit before it was aborted.
Manchester United fan PC Blades was a dedicated football coach in his spare time – and was also an English teacher at Carmel College in Darlington whose Principal Mel Kanes said: “We remember Matty with great affection as an excellent classroom teacher, a wonderful role model and a colleague with a genuine passion for his subject and for the young people he taught.
“Matty cared deeply about his students and worked particularly closely with some of the most vulnerable young people in our community.
“His kindness, patience and ability to see the potential in every student meant that he made a lasting difference to many lives.”