Murder of Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone
| Murder of Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone | |
|---|---|
Floral tributes near the crime scene
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| Location | Mottram in Longdendale, Greater Manchester, England |
| Date | 18 September 2012 around 11 am |
| Target | Greater Manchester Police |
| Weapons | |
| Deaths | 2 |
| Victims | Nicola Hughes Fiona Bone |
On 18 September 2012, Police Constables Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, two Greater Manchester Police officers, were killed by Dale Cregan in a gun and grenade attack while responding to a report of a burglary in Greater Manchester, England.
The incident was the first in Great Britain in which two female police officers were killed on duty. Greater Manchester's chief constable Peter Fahy called the attack "cold-blooded murder" and British prime minister David Cameron described it as a "despicable act...of pure evil". The deaths renewed the debate about whether British police officers should be armed.
On 12 February 2013, Cregan changed his plea to guilty in relation to the murder of the two police officers. Three months later he admitted to carrying out two separate murders in 2012, which were linked to a gangland feud in Manchester.
Cregan was sentenced to a term of whole life imprisonment at Preston Crown Court on 13 June 2013.
Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes, 23, were on routine patrol on 18 September 2012 when they were sent to Abbey Gardens, Mottram in Longdendale, near Hyde, at about 11 am, following a report of a burglary. This was the result of a 999 emergency telephone call from a member of the public, which was later found to be the work of Dale Cregan, who had led the officers into a trap. After arriving at the house where the burglary had been reported the officers came under attack, with 32 gunshots being fired from a Glock pistol within 31 seconds, and one M75 hand grenade being used. One officer died at the scene while the other was badly wounded and died later in hospital.
Dale Cregan, 29, was arrested by police after walking into a police station in Hyde an hour after Hughes and Bone were killed. Cregan was wanted in connection with the murders of Mark Short, 23, who was shot dead in the Cotton Tree pub in Droylsden on 25 May 2012, and of his father David Short, 46, who was killed in a gun and grenade attack at his home on Folkstone Road East in Clayton on 10 August 2012. Cregan was on bail after being arrested in June 2012 for questioning over the murder of Mark Short. Greater Manchester Police chief constable Peter Fahy defended the decision to grant bail, saying "It is absolutely normal in complex crime inquiries that when people are arrested there are occasions where there is insufficient evidence available for them to be charged."
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