See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy PATRICK HARRINGTON, UK NEWS REPORTER Published: 23:23 BST, 27 August 2026 | Updated: 23:34 BST, 27 August 2026
A gang of youths torched several cars in a field at a balloon release for one of the A66 'joyriders' on Thursday night.A group gathered to remember Michael Cahill, 23, who was one of the five men killed when their VW Passat, going the wrong way down a dual carriageway, smashed into a police car - killing two officers.Footage shows a number of cars ablaze in a farmer's field near Haswell, County Durham, around ten miles from the outskirts of Middlesbrough.A gang of bikers parked in the middle of the field revved their engines, and car horns were blared continuously.Dozens of teenagers, many with their hoods up, milled around and set off blue smoke flares.Blue balloons spelling out 'Michael' were released earlier in the evening, as cars did doughnuts on the grass.Clips posted to social media were captioned 'RIP Mickey'.It comes as hundreds of extra police were drafted into Middlesbrough on Thursday to restore order, amid fears the town is on the brink of descending into a gang war.Violence, believed to be linked to five young men who were killed in a wrong-way crash on the A66 on Saturday, has spiralled across Teesside.This afternoon, armed police swarmed a house on the Bankfield estate in Eston after a 39-year-old man was injured in a stabbing. This is a breaking news story, refresh for updates. Several cars were set ablaze by hooded youths in a field near Haswell, ten miles from the outskirts of Middlesborough The cars burned in several spots around the field Burnt-out shells were all the remained of the vehicles, surrounded by scorched grass
