The key facts

  • Guy Worthy, 40, admitted assault and resisting arrest at his son's funeral on 9 September
  • He failed to appear at Teesside Crown Court for sentencing on 27 October
  • The warrant was issued 'not backed by bail': after his arrest he will remain in custody

Failure to appear in court and arrest warrant

Judge, Deputy District Judge Julia Baggs, granted the prosecution's application for an arrest warrant for 40-year-old Guy Worthy of Middlesbrough — 'not backed by bail', meaning he will be held in custody after his arrest until the next court hearing. This was reported by BBC News. Worthy did not attend the sentencing at Teesside Crown Court on Tuesday; the court said he had not contacted his solicitors and had not explained his absence.

The nature of the charges

Earlier, Worthy had pleaded guilty to common assault on ceremonial marshal Paul Moll and to resisting arrest following a disturbance during his son's funeral on 9 September at Teesside Crematorium in Middlesbrough. He was also due to be sentenced for stealing four bottles of wine worth £30 from a shop on 8 October.

Context: the A66 crash

Worthy's son, 17-year-old Cole Worthy, died in the early hours of 22 August, when the Volkswagen Passat carrying five people crossed into the oncoming lane and collided head-on with a marked armed police vehicle on the A66 at South Bank. All five men in the Passat and two police officers were killed. According to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), constables Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough were driving along the A66 searching for the Passat after its cloned number plates triggered a camera, but they were not themselves involved in the pursuit that preceded the crash. The other victims in the Passat were Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, McKai Suddington, 18, and 17-year-old Theo Ray. Cole Worthy's funeral took place on the same day as Constable Blades's funeral. It also emerged that shortly before the crash, the car had rammed a house on a street in Acklam, Middlesbrough, linked to the Worthy family.

Five young men in their late teens and early 20s. They all have similar haircuts, with a fringe and faded back and sides. Four of them are gesturing with their fingers. Three of them extend their thumb, index, and pinky fingers - leaving their middle and ring finger tucked down. One points with his index and middle finger whilst holding a Lucozade bottle. They are all dressed in casual clothing.Image source, Social media
Image caption,

Cole Robert Worthy, on the right, was one of seven killed in a head-on crash with a police car

The badly damaged exterior of a brick home. The front window has been smashed, with one pane boarded up, and the bricks underneath have collapsed. Metal fencing has been put up around the area.Image source, PA
Image caption,

Prior to the A66 crash a home linked to the Worthy family had been rammed