How Dale Cregan Lured Two Unarmed Police Officers to Their Deaths with a Fake 999 Call
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On the morning of 18 September 2012, two unarmed police officers responded to what appeared to be a routine burglary call in a quiet cul-de-sac in Hattersley, Greater Manchester. Within seconds of arriving, both were dead or dying. The 999 call that sent them there had been made by the man waiting to kill them.
This is the story of Dale Cregan, the one-eyed Manchester gangster who fired 32 shots in 31 seconds and threw a hand grenade at the bodies of PCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone. It remains one of the most shocking attacks on British police officers in living memory.
Who Were Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone?
Nicola Hughes was 23 years old, born on 16 October 1988 and raised in Oldham and Diggle. She attended Saddleworth High School in Uppermill before studying at Huddersfield University. Friends and colleagues described her as bubbly and compassionate. Away from the job she was a karate champion. She had joined Greater Manchester Police in 2009.
Fiona Bone was 32, born on 31 December 1979 in Norwich and raised in Scotland alongside her sister Vicky. She too joined Greater Manchester Police in 2009 and had quickly made herself an integral part of the team. On the morning she was killed, she had been working on her wedding invitations. Her partner was expecting her home.
Both officers were on routine patrol together when the call came in at around 10 to 11am. Neither had any reason to suspect what was waiting for them at Abbey Gardens in Hattersley, Tameside.
Who Is Dale Cregan?
Dale Christopher Cregan was born on 6 June 1983 at Tameside General Hospital. His father Paul, a tool setter from Manchester, eventually left the family and later married a former Greater Manchester Police officer. Cregan, his older brother Dean, and a younger sister were raised by their mother.
He attended Littlemoss High School in Droylsden, a school that has since closed, where he began dealing cannabis and reportedly developed what those around him called an obsession with knives. He spent around 18 months living with his sister in Tenerife before returning to Manchester with ambitions that had grown considerably darker.
By the age of 22, Cregan was dealing cocaine and claimed to be clearing £20,000 a week in profit. He collected firearms until he had around ten weapons, including machine guns. His official occupation, at least on paper, was plasterer.
He is widely known by the nickname "One Eye." His left eye is missing, believed to have been removed with a knife, though the exact circumstances have never been publicly confirmed. Cregan himself told associates it happened in a fight in Thailand. During his 17-week trial, security staff required him to remove his prosthetic eye each time he entered or left the courtroom to confirm nothing was concealed in the socket.
The Manchester Gang Feud Behind the Killings
To understand why Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone died, you have to understand what had happened in Manchester in the months before September 2012.
Two criminal families, the Shorts and the Atkinsons, had been locked in a feud for the better part of a decade. Cregan was closely aligned with the Atkinson family. On 13 May 2012, a confrontation between members of both families took place at the Cotton Tree pub in Droylsden.
Twelve days later, on 25 May 2012, Cregan shot dead 23-year-old Mark Short at the same pub. Three other men were wounded in the same attack. Cregan was arrested in June 2012 on suspicion of the murder but was released on bail due to what police described as insufficient evidence to charge him at that stage.
He remained free. On 10 August 2012, he shot David Short, Mark's 46-year-old father, nine times with a Glock pistol at his home on Folkestone Road East in Clayton, then threw an M75 hand grenade onto his body. The grenade blew David Short apart. It was the first time in British history that a hand grenade had been used as a murder weapon.
A manhunt was launched. Cregan had now killed twice, was wanted by police, and was still at large.
The Day of the Ambush
On the evening of 17 September 2012, Cregan is reported to have spent the night celebrating with beer and cigars. He later told police he knew it was his last night of freedom. He had already decided what he was going to do.
The following morning he placed a 999 call, reporting a burglary at an address in Abbey Gardens, Hattersley. The call was designed to bring police to him. Cregan was waiting at the property, armed with a Glock pistol and an M75 hand grenade.
PCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone arrived at around 11am wearing body armour but armed only with a Taser,. They had no warning. Cregan opened the door and immediately opened fire, discharging 32 rounds from the Glock in just 31 seconds.
He shot both women in the chest, but the officers' body armour stopped the bullets from penetrating. They turned to run, but Cregan shot Hughes in the back several times, causing her to fall to the ground, where she was again shot.
Bone tried to fire her Taser at Cregan but missed and he shot her multiple times. As the women lay dead or dying, Cregan threw a grenade towards their bodies.
About an hour after the attack, Cregan walked into Hyde Police Station and handed himself in. He told officers he had "done two coppers" because police were "hounding my family."
The killings of Fiona Bone, Nicola Hughes, and David Short marked the first three occasions in British history on which hand grenades had been used as murder weapons.
The Scale of the Investigation and Trial
The security operation surrounding Cregan's subsequent trial was extraordinary. The case was moved from Manchester to Preston Crown Court, partly for security reasons. Scaffolding was erected around the building to provide positions for armed officers. Police snipers watched from nearby offices. Cregan's daily convoy between Manchester Prison and Preston involved two prison vans, police cars, motorcycle outriders, and a helicopter. Around 120 Greater Manchester Police officers were deployed daily. The total cost of the trial exceeded five million pounds.
Cregan stood alongside nine co-defendants, each facing various charges related to the murders and gang violence. The trial began on 4 February 2013. Just eight days in, on 12 February, Cregan changed his not-guilty plea and admitted murdering the two officers. On 22 May 2013 he also pleaded guilty to the murders of Mark and David Short.
On 13 June 2013, Judge Mr Justice Holroyde sentenced Cregan to life imprisonment with a whole life order at Preston Crown Court. He will never be released. He was also convicted of three attempted murders in connection with the Cotton Tree pub shooting.
The prosecution's case was that the killings of the Short family were carried out on behalf of the Atkinson family, to whom Cregan was fiercely loyal. However, his close friend Leon Atkinson, 35, was found not guilty on all charges.
Cregan was cleared of one count of attempted murder, relating to a grenade attack on a woman named Sharon Hark.
What Happened to Cregan in Prison?
In August 2013, just two months after his sentencing, Cregan went on hunger strike at HMP Full Sutton in East Yorkshire, reportedly complaining of isolation and being held too far from his family. Jonathan Reynolds, then MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, said Cregan was "clearly proud of the reputation he has gained" and described the protest as little more than an attempt to keep himself in the public eye.
In September 2013, he was transferred to Ashworth Hospital, a high-security psychiatric facility near Liverpool. He returned to the prison estate in March 2018, at which point reports emerged that he had been boasting about his gym workouts and access to snooker and tennis courts during his time at Ashworth.
As of 2025, he is believed to be held at HMP Full Sutton, a Category A high-security prison near Pocklington in East Yorkshire. His whole life order remains firmly in place.
In April 2025, Greater Manchester Police confirmed that a Glock self-loading pistol used in the murders of both Mark and David Short had been recovered during a raid on a drugs gang safehouse in Moss Side on 7 April 2024, nearly 12 years after the killings.
The Families' Reaction and Legacy
The reaction to the murders was immediate and nationwide. Prime Minister David Cameron called the attack "a shocking reminder of the debt we owe to those who put themselves in danger to keep us safe." GMP Chief Constable Peter Fahy described Hughes and Bone as embodying "the very best of British policing."
Flags outside Manchester City's stadium were lowered to half-mast. Players from both Manchester City and Manchester United wore black armbands in the days that followed. Sir Alex Ferguson, then United manager, attended the funerals personally.
The funerals were held at Manchester Cathedral on consecutive days. Nicola Hughes's service took place on 3 October 2012. Fiona Bone's followed on 4 October. Much of Manchester city centre came to a standstill. Officers travelled from across the country to pay their respects. A memorial was later placed in Mottram Parish Church on the first anniversary of the murders.
Fiona Bone's father Paul said he believed Cregan deserved the death penalty. He told reporters: "In certain circumstances I think it would be a good idea and this possibly is one of them." He also said that arming officers would not have saved his daughter's life. "If Fiona had been armed to the teeth it wouldn't have made any difference," he said.
Nicola Hughes's father Bryn described the loss as "a surreal nightmare you realise you're never going to wake up from."
The Elizabeth Emblem: A Campaign and a Long-Overdue Honour
For years after the murders, Bryn Hughes and Paul Bone campaigned together for formal recognition for public servants killed in the line of duty. They pointed out that while military personnel who die serving their country receive the Elizabeth Cross, no equivalent honour existed for police officers, firefighters, or other civilian emergency workers.
Their campaign succeeded. In March 2024, it was announced that the Elizabeth Emblem would be created, described as the civilian equivalent of the Elizabeth Cross, to be awarded to the next of kin of public servants who die in service. The emblem's design features a rosemary wreath, a traditional symbol of remembrance, surrounding a Tudor Crown and the inscription "For A Life Given In Service."
In December 2024, King Charles III presented the Elizabeth Emblem personally to Bryn Hughes and Paul Bone during a ceremony at Windsor Castle. They were among the first 38 families to receive the award.
Bryn Hughes said after the ceremony: "We can't change what's happened, but I think if we can remember them and honour them in this way, that's a quite fitting tribute." He also said he believed Nicola would have found the attention embarrassing. "I think she'd be pleased and proud that it had happened for us, but I think she'd be embarrassed about it."
Paul Bone said he hoped both women would be remembered as "happy, bubbly public servants" who "were doing their job happily, tried to help people."
Why This Case Still Matters
The murders of Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone raised a question that British society still grapples with: should police officers routinely carry firearms? Both fathers publicly opposed the idea. The debate has continued, though without resolution.
The case also highlighted the dangers of bail decisions in complex investigations. Cregan was wanted in connection with one murder and had already carried out another before he lured the two officers to their deaths. GMP's chief constable at the time defended the decision to grant bail as standard practice in cases where insufficient evidence exists to charge. Critics were not satisfied with that answer.
What is beyond question is that two women who joined the police to help their communities were murdered while doing their jobs by a man who had deliberately engineered their deaths. Neither was armed. Neither had any chance.
Their names were Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone. Thanks in large part to the determination of their families, the country has now formally recorded that their lives were given in service.
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