In August last year, 17-year-old Theo Rae shared a video on Facebook of two boys in the back of a car being driven at speed with police chasing in the background.
It is not clear whether Rae was one of those involved in the incident as faces are obscured, but he wrote in the comments “#didntgetcaught”.
This weekend, Rae was one of five young men who were killed when the Volkswagen Passat they were in collided with a police car while being driven the wrong way down the A66 near Middlesbrough.
The other four pronounced dead at the scene were Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak. Police are investigating what role filming inside the car played in the incident.
Two police officers – Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38 – were also killed.
The police watchdog – the Independent Office for Police Conduct – is investigating the circumstances of what happened, but it has been confirmed that the Passat had been involved in a police pursuit shortly before the crash.
The tragedy has ignited fresh concerns about a culture of dangerous driving linked to social media activity.
TikTok facing fresh scrutiny
Earlier this month, five teenage boys travelling in a stolen BMW were involved in a head-on crash while driving the wrong way down a motorway in County Kildare, Ireland. Several had previously posted videos of reckless driving on social media platforms.
Three women and a seven-year-old boy from the same family who were in the other car are in hospital with serious injuries.
TikTok has declined a request to speak publicly to politicians in Ireland about the issues raised by the Kildare incident, citing an ongoing police investigation.
Pc Tom Clough, left, and Pc Matthew Blades died in the crash on the A66 near MiddlesbroughThe UK Government has urged TikTok to remove such content after it was reported that Saddington, who was involved in the Middlesbrough crash, had also posted videos of himself driving dangerously.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The glorification of dangerous driving for clips and entertainment is utterly disgraceful and that is why we have raised the issue of this appalling content with social media companies since the tragedy, and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport [Lisa Nandy] is clear that it should be removed in line with their legal obligations.”
In March last year, Saddington posted a video of police chasing him through a housing estate, according to The Times.
He had also recently appeared in court charged with assaulting a police officer and causing racially aggravated alarm in Middlesbrough. He received a conditional discharge for 12 months on both offences and was ordered to pay the police officer £50 compensation.
Relative in prison for dangerous driving
The i Paper can reveal that 23-year-old Aaron Saddington, believed to be a relative, was jailed for speeding the wrong way down the A66 following a police pursuit only a few months ago. He pleaded guilty to charges of driving dangerously, driving while disqualified, and driving without insurance, and was imprisoned for 20 months at Teesside Crown Court on 7 June.
When a friend posted an image of Aaron on the day he was arrested, Makai commented: “Soon be back g.”
Police have become increasingly concerned about the link between dangerous driving and social media activity in recent years. Adrian Leisk, head of road safety for Devon and Cornwall Police, described it as an “epidemic” in an interview with The i Paper in 2023.
The GTA UK page was removed after being flagged by The i Paper (Source: TikTok)While the punishments for using a mobile phone behind the wheel have become stricter, Leisk said there was only so much enforcement of the law could do and greater education was needed.
Police and politicians also want to see greater action from social media companies.
TikTok says it is removing content
The police pursuit video shared by Theo Rae was posted by an account called “GTA UK”– a reference to Grand Theft Auto, the popular computer game which allows players to indulge in simulations of criminal behaviour.
It has both a Facebook and a TikTok page which share video of dangerous driving and police pursuits.
The most recent video, posted last week, shows a driver filming themselves as they hit speeds of up to 125mph behind the wheel of a Range Rover.
Meta, which owns Facebook, said it bans people from promoting “high-risk viral challenges” and takes down such content once it is made aware of it.
According to TikTok, the “GTA UK” page has now been banned for breaking the platform’s rules.
TikTok says it is also closely monitoring any content related to the Middlesbrough incident and removing videos and accounts that break rules.
The platform claims it removes any content that glorifies violence, or promotes crimes that could harm people, as well as content that depicts activities likely to be imitated and that could cause significant physical harm, including risky driving.
Twelve people have now been arrested over alleged offences linked to the A66 crash, Cleveland Police said.
Nine men and three women, aged between 19 and 61, have been arrested on suspicion of offences ranging from possession of a firearm to participating in the activities of an organised crime group.
The ‘GTA UK’ pages featured footage of a number of high-speed chasesThe force said its officers had responded to reports that two cars were being driven dangerously on Saturday, 22 August.
The Volkswagen Passat, which collided with the vehicle of Pc Matthew Blades and Pc Tom Clough, had earlier been sought in connection with a Volvo XC60 that was seen ramming properties in the Middlesbrough area.
Both vehicles had cloned number plates but were picked up by automated number plate recognition, the force said, and the Volvo XC60 has been traced and recovered in Middlesbrough.
Four of the five people in the Passat, including three teenagers, had previous convictions.
Cleveland Police said in a statement: “At the current time, there is no evidence to indicate that filming of the activities that took place on Friday night and Saturday morning has taken place for the purposes of TikTok.”
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