Hundreds of police officers, Army veterans and members of the public gathered in Teesside on Thursday to say a final farewell to PC Tom Clough, the 38-year-old officer who was killed in the devastating A66 crash that claimed the lives of seven people.
For those who knew him, the funeral was not simply a ceremony for a police officer who died in the line of duty.
It was a farewell to a former soldier, a colleague, a partner, a brother and a man remembered for his humor, professionalism and determination to help others.
Clough was one of two Cleveland Police officers killed in the early hours of August 22 when a Volkswagen Passat collided head-on with their marked police vehicle on the A66 near Middlesbrough.
Five young men traveling in the Passat also died in the collision.
The tragedy has since become the center of a wider investigation involving a police pursuit, suspected organized crime links and an escalating feud in Middlesbrough.
But on Thursday, the focus shifted away from the investigation and toward the life of the officer who had spent years serving both his country and his community.
Thousands of people were not expected to attend, but the turnout was still immense.
Around 1,000 police officers and soldiers joined hundreds of members of the public as Clough’s funeral procession made its way toward Kirkleatham Walled Gardens in Redcar. Officers from forces across the country stood along the route, with standard bearers lowering their flags as his hearse passed.
Four mounted officers led the procession, while police motorcycles and a marked traffic patrol vehicle followed behind.
Clough’s coffin was draped in the Union flag and decorated with his police helmet and red poppies.
Six former military comrades walked alongside the hearse, a reminder that his career in public service began long before he joined Cleveland Police.
The ceremony was held at Kirkleatham Walled Gardens, only a few miles from the location where Clough lost his life.
Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller led tributes to the officer, while Policing Minister Sarah Jones was among those attending the service.
For many of Clough’s colleagues, the scale of the turnout carried a painful irony.
They remembered that Tom had once joked that nobody would turn up to his funeral.
On Thursday, the opposite proved true.
His colleagues said the overwhelming response from police, military personnel and members of the public showed just how many lives he had touched during his years of service.
“He gave everyone his everything,” was the message reflected repeatedly in tributes to the officer.
Clough’s career had taken him through some of the most demanding forms of public service.
He served in the British Army for six years, including active service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He later worked with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and the British Transport Police before joining Cleveland Police.
During his military career, he served as a lance corporal with the Royal Logistic Corps and was part of an explosive ordnance disposal and search regiment.
Those who worked alongside him remembered him not only for his technical skills and professionalism, but also for his personality.
He was described as fun-loving, cheeky and capable of lifting the mood during difficult shifts.
One former commanding officer at the nuclear processing site where Clough worked said his professionalism was matched by a personality that brought people together.
His family remembered him in much the same way.
To them, Tom was not simply the officer whose name now appears in reports about one of Britain’s most shocking road tragedies.
He was their hero.
He was also someone who loved his dog, Frank, a sausage dog who had become a much-loved part of his life.
His partner and family have spoken about how deeply he cared for those around him and how much his loss has changed their lives.
The funeral came just one day after the service for Clough’s colleague, PC Matthew Blades.
Blades, 37, was remembered at a funeral in Hartlepool on Wednesday, where hundreds of officers lined the streets outside St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church.
He was a married father of two and an armed response officer who was also involved in youth football coaching.
His coffin was carried into the church beneath a Union flag as officers and members of the public gathered to honor him.
The two officers died together on August 22.
According to police accounts reported since the crash, a Volkswagen Passat had been involved in a pursuit before traveling the wrong way along the A66.
The pursuit was abandoned after the vehicle entered the dual carriageway, but only seconds later the Passat collided with the officers’ vehicle.
The impact killed both officers and all five occupants of the Passat.
The five young men were identified as Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, and teenagers Theo Rae and Cole Worthy, both 17.
Authorities have said the incident is connected to a much wider criminal investigation in Middlesbrough.
Police previously said some of those involved had links to organized crime, while reports have connected the crash to a long-running feud involving rival groups.
In the aftermath, Cleveland Police brought in around 200 additional specialist officers from other northern forces as authorities attempted to prevent further disorder.
Police have also made a number of arrests as part of efforts to disrupt suspected organized criminal activity.
That wider investigation has continued alongside a series of funerals for the people who died.
And those funerals have themselves become part of the story.
Some services for the young men in the Passat have attracted large crowds and concerns over disorder. Police have increased their presence around several ceremonies, while local authorities have faced difficult decisions over traffic and school arrangements.
On September 9, the funeral of Cole Worthy was disrupted by a disturbance at Teesside Crematorium. A 39-year-old man was arrested following reports of an assault during the service and was later charged with common assault, a public order offense and obstructing police.
The contrast between those events and the farewell for PC Tom Clough has been striking.
At Clough’s funeral, the atmosphere was dominated by police officers, Army veterans and members of the public standing silently along the route.
Flags were lowered.
Uniformed officers lined the streets.
Former military colleagues walked beside his coffin.
And a community that had watched the tragedy unfold came together to remember a man who had spent his adult life protecting others.
For people in the area, the ceremony also offered a chance to remember the human cost of the crash beyond the headlines.
The A66 collision initially appeared to be a terrible road tragedy.
But the circumstances surrounding it have since opened a much larger investigation into organized crime, violence and a suspected feud in Middlesbrough.
The five people in the Passat had their own families and friends mourning them.
The two police officers had families, colleagues and communities mourning them as well.
Yet for Cleveland Police, the loss of Blades and Clough represents something particularly painful: two officers who went to work and never came home.
Clough’s family said he had spent his life trying to make the world a better place.
His military service took him overseas.
His later police work brought him into some of the most challenging situations faced by law enforcement.
And in the end, he died while carrying out that duty.
Perhaps the most emotional part of the funeral was the realization that the officer who once joked nobody would attend his funeral could not have known how many people would eventually come to honor him.
Police officers from across Britain stood alongside soldiers who had served with him.
Members of the public lined the streets.
Friends remembered his humor.
His family remembered his kindness.
And colleagues remembered a man who consistently gave everything he had to the job.
The investigation into the A66 crash is far from over.
Questions remain about the events leading up to the collision, the alleged criminal activity surrounding the people involved and the circumstances of the police pursuit.
But for one day, those questions took a back seat.
The people who gathered in Teesside were there to remember Tom Clough.
A soldier.
A police officer.
A partner.
A brother.
A friend.
And, in the words of those closest to him, a hero.
His life was cut short at just 38 years old.
But the turnout at his funeral made one thing unmistakably clear.
Tom Clough did not leave this world unnoticed.
He left behind a lifetime of service — and a community determined not to forget him.