Greater Manchester police deaths: Suspect charged with murder over gun and grenade attack on PCs
DALE Cregan was last night charged with the murders of two police officers in a gun and grenade attack, police said.
The 29-year-old is also accused of killing father and son David and Mark Short in separate incidents earlier this year.
Additionally, Cregan faces four charges of attempted murder. He will appear at Manchester City Magistrates’ Court today.
Nazir Afzal, chief crown prosecutor for the north west, said: “The CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] and Greater Manchester Police are absolutely determined to deliver justice for those who have been killed and for their families, and we will continue working closely during the ongoing investigations into these deaths.”
It emerged yesterday that one of the two policewomen who were killed spent most her childhood in Moray.
Constable Bone was the daughter of a serviceman at RAF Lossiemouth air base air base.
Yesterday, as tens of thousands of people posted messages on an online book of condolence, Stewart Cree, convener of Moray Council, led local tributes to the courageous constable.
Councillor Cree, a former chief superintendent with Grampian Police, said: “Although PC Bone no longer had any direct connection with this area, her death in the line of duty will be felt deeply by the people of Moray.”
Constable Bone, 32, who was due to marry her partner, Clare Curran, 39, in a civil ceremony, was born in Norwich but moved to Scotland as a young child when her father, Paul, now 64, was posted to RAF Lossiemouth. Constable Bone’s mother, June, was born in nearby Forres.
She attended primary school in the village of Hopeman, less than two miles from Lossiemouth, and spent two years at Lossiemouth High School before moving to Leicestershire, and then the Isle of Man when her father left the RAF for a job as an airport ground engineer.
Last night, Garry Shewan, the assistant chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, called for an end to a bitter feud between two “criminal families.”
Mr Shewan said: “I think what we’ve seen on Tuesday has to appeal to everyone as a watershed moment. I would say the strong message that Greater Manchester Police has been using over the last six weeks, and perhaps even further back, is, ‘Enough is enough. This has to end.’
He continued: “We were investigating a feud between two criminal families, we continue to do that, and the link between that and Tuesday’s events is still part of an active investigation.”
Mr Shewan also announced that a 22 year-old man from the Liverpool area had been arrested after a Facebook page was set up, lauding Cregan as a “legend.” He has been arrested under the Communications Act 2003.
The assistant chief constable said: “In the last 48 hours, since the tragic death of our two officers, there has been a huge amount of support from the public through our website and on social media. However, there is also a small number of people who have posted malicious, upsetting comments online, causing outrage to many people.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Edinburgh
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 5 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: North west
