Behind the d3:aths of a seven-year-old girl and her aunt in a house fire lies growing concern over notorious criminal gangs
Middlesbrough residents fear the town will descend into carnage if gangland attacks continue to intensify after a seven-year-old girl was killed in a house fire.
Two men, aged 31 and 23, have been arrested on suspicion of murder after Valentina Foster and her aunt Natalie McDonald, 34, died in the blaze in Grangetown on Wednesday.
There are concerns the fire was a revenge attack linked to the five youths who were killed in a wrong-way crash just one mile away on the A66 at the weekend.
The Daily Mail previously revealed that before their stolen Volkswagen Passat collided head-on with a police vehicle, they had allegedly been chasing a rival gang as part of a violent feud.
Cleveland Police said yesterday it was ‘keeping an open mind’ regarding the cause of the fire but could not ‘rule out any links to wider organised crime at this time’.
Middlesbrough has the highest crime rate in England excluding central London, and rival criminal groups have been spreading fear among residents.
Former mayor Andy Preston said the town was ‘on its knees’ – as he warned attacks between criminal gangs could escalate further in response to the house fire.
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Valentina Foster, seven, and her aunt Natalie McDonald died in the blaze in Grangetown on Wednesday
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Emergency services at the scene of the fire in the Grangetown area of Middlesbrough
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A rival gang allegedly used a Volvo XC60 to ram into the home of Cole Worthy’s father at 3am on Saturday
‘From this awful point, things could escalate or peter out,’ he told The Telegraph. ‘Escalation will be carnage and further wound the communities that are already on their knees.’
Mr Preston described Middlesbrough as England’s crime capital where criminals can do ‘what they want’ and dominate the streets.
He warned that ordinary people are now facing death threats, seeing guns shot at front doors and cars rammed into houses.
Police were called to the fire, which caused extensive damage to the roof of the property in Grangetown, at 5.23am on Wednesday.
Valentina and Ms McDonald were confirmed dead, while another woman last night remained in a critical condition in hospital.
A further three people were being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Yesterday afternoon Ms McDonald’s mother Lisa Kirton paid tribute, describing her daughter as ‘a beautiful, bubbly person who everyone knew’.
She told The Times: ‘She had a heart of gold who would give anyone anything. She left behind a daughter with no parents.
‘We live opposite and were woken up at about 5am and there were people getting dragged out of fires when we were there at the scene.
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Valentina and Ms McDonald (pictured) were confirmed dead in the fire, while another woman was last night in a critical condition in hospital
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The roof of the home was destroyed in the blaze, although the property itself did not collapse
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Theo Rae (left) and Cole Worthy (right), both 17, were among those who died in the A66 crash
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Emergency services in Grangetown following the fire at around 5am on Wednesday morning
‘We were waiting for Natalie to come out and after about three hours police told us she had died.’
Tributes to the victims have also been shared on social media. One person wrote: ‘What a heartbreaking world we live in. Rest in peace Valentina, such a character you were.’
Residents described how people attempted to rescue the occupants and that one person had leaped to safety from an upstairs window.
Ellie, aged 20, said: ‘I ran down the road screaming. I have lost my voice now. The entire house was scorching. I couldn’t get near the front of the house – it was that hot.’
She described holding the hand of a woman who had jumped from an upstairs window, staying with her until paramedics arrived.
Ciara Randle, ten, who lives near the property and spoke with her mother’s permission, added: ‘I woke up to screaming, dogs barking and sirens, very early.
‘The sun had only just come up. I told my mum as soon as we got up.
‘We realised there had been a fire. We’re very shocked. The fire had been put out by then, but there was smoke, and the house was smouldering.’
Separately, police have arrested 17 people following the A66 crash on Saturday morning that also claimed the lives of PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38.
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Jakub Matusiak (left), 23, and Makai Saddington (right), 18, also died in the crash on Saturday
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Michael Cahill, 23, was the only person in the car who had no convictions before the crash
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PC Tom Clough (left) and PC Matthew Blades (right) were killed when their police vehicle was struck
Those in the Passat were 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak, Makai Saddington, 18, Cole Worthy, 17, and Theo Rae, 17. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Passat had been pursued by police following an earlier incident in which a house in the Acklam area of Middlesbrough belonging to Worthy’s father was rammed by a vehicle.
The pursuit was aborted when the Passat went the wrong way down the A66.
Police have previously said that the five young men in the Passat may have had links to ‘serious and organised criminal activity’.
Four of the five young men in the car had criminal convictions and were believed to be associated with another car which was seen ramming properties earlier that morning.
Police also previously said that on the morning of the collision, the force received several reports of two vehicles being driven dangerously.
The first vehicle, believed to be a Volvo XC60, was witnessed ramming properties in the Middlesbrough area.
The second vehicle, a Volkswagen Passat, is believed to have been associated with the activities of the Volvo.
Police said both vehicles were operating with cloned number plates but were picked up by automated number plate recognition technology.
The Volvo XC60 involved in the initial reports has been traced and recovered in Middlesbrough.
PC Blades and PC Clough were not involved in the original pursuit but had been called to the area to assist with the search for the Passat.
SOURCE: DAILY MAIL
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16083003/Middlesbrough-descend-carnage-gangland-attacks.html
