Dozens of cars were set ablaze in a farmer's field near Haswell, County Durham, on Thursday night during a tribute event. The incident occurred around ten miles from the outskirts of Middlesbrough.
Blue balloons spelling out 'Michael' were released earlier in the evening, accompanied by cars performing doughnuts on the grass. Social media clips of the event were captioned 'RIP Mickey'. The gathering was a memorial for Michael Cahill, 23, who was one of five men killed in a high-speed, wrong-way collision on the A66 that also claimed the lives of two police officers.
Middlesbrough has seen an increased police presence, with hundreds of additional officers deployed on Thursday to address rising tensions. Authorities fear the town is on the verge of wider gang conflict, with violence believed to be connected to the fatal A66 crash. In a separate incident on Thursday afternoon, armed police responded to a stabbing on the Bankfield estate in Eston, where a 39-year-old man was injured.