On the morning of 18 September 2012, Police Constables Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes, 23, were on routine patrol for Greater Manchester Police when they were dispatched to Abbey Gardens in Hattersley, Tameside, at around 11am following a report of a burglary. The call had in fact been made by Dale Cregan, who used it to lure the officers into an ambush. When the officers arrived at the address, they were attacked with 32 gunshots fired from a Glock pistol within 31 seconds, along with an M75 hand grenade. Fiona Bone died at the scene; Nicola Hughes was severely wounded and died later in hospital. This was the first incident in England in which two female police officers were killed while on duty.
Cregan was arrested approximately an hour after the killings when he walked into a police station in Hyde. He was already wanted in connection with the murders of Mark Short, who was shot dead in a pub in Droylsden on 25 May 2012, and Mark's father David Short, who was killed in a separate gun and grenade attack at his home in Clayton on 10 August 2012. Cregan had previously been arrested and released on bail in June 2012 in connection with the Mark Short investigation; Greater Manchester Police chief constable Peter Fahy defended that bail decision, citing insufficient evidence to charge at the time.
Cregan was charged with the murders of Hughes, Bone, and the two Shorts, plus four counts of attempted murder. He initially pleaded not guilty at a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on 5 November 2012. His trial began on 4 February 2013 at Preston Crown Court alongside nine co-accused. On 12 February 2013, Cregan changed his plea to guilty for the murders of the two police officers. On 22 May 2013 he also pleaded guilty to the murders of David and Mark Short, which were linked to a long-running feud between two criminal families in Manchester. He was cleared of a separate charge of attempted murder relating to Sharon Hark. On 13 June 2013, Cregan was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order for the four murders.
The killings drew widespread condemnation. Prime Minister David Cameron described the attack as "a shocking reminder of the debt we owe to those who put themselves in danger to keep us safe and secure," while chief constable Peter Fahy called it "cold-blooded murder" and praised the officers as exemplifying "the very best of British policing." Football clubs including Manchester City and Manchester United held moments of silence and wore black armbands in tribute. The deaths also renewed public debate over whether British police officers should be routinely armed.
Funeral services for both officers were held on consecutive days at Manchester Cathedral in October 2012. In December 2024, Hughes and Bone were posthumously awarded the Elizabeth Emblem. In April 2025, Greater Manchester Police confirmed that a Glock pistol used in the killings of David and Mark Short had been recovered during an unrelated drugs raid in Moss Side in April 2024.
Credit: Gerald EnglandCC BY-SA 2.0SourceSOLVEDListen
