Crimes That Shook Britain - Season 6, Episode 3: Dale Cregan

a crime like no other the fallout from the actions of one man it's so catastrophic that it leaves the whole nation really just a absolutely despicable act on of pure evil we had grenades which had not happened before in that sort of attack a dispute between two families that ends with a father and son being brutally murdered I've never come across anybody who could be so callous and so cold a man on the run that sparks an international search and drives a community to be silenced through fear they were taken down posters in and around the Doyles Dan area saying that if you grass to the police you will not live long enough to spend 50,000 pounds culminating in a hoax call to police so I was her big concrete slab but when Donna but viewers too young women to their deaths and he didn't have to say the words but you just said there's no easy way of saying we're just ordinary people we are just ordinary people I'll be waiting the calculated murders of four people and one of the largest ever manhunts in the country to catch the ruthless killer makes this a crime that shook Britain [Music] police emergency sometimes a big concrete slab but when Donner huh the 18th of September 2012 Greater Manchester police receive an emergency call to tend to an address in Hattersley Rossi address that please there'll be Gardens motion from what appears to be a routine incident two local officers PC Fiona bone and PC Nicola Hughes finished their morning briefing and are tasked with going to the property just three miles away the day had started with with me coming into work and going through all the the all of the risk assessments and the incidents overnight just to make sure that we hadn't missed anything and that any intelligence opportunities have been taken for just over five months officers at the force have been on high alert trying to track down a man who was murdered in cold blood and gone on the run it was a huge investigation we had huge numbers of people here carrying out that investigation clearly I'm not going to go into all the various tactics that we used except that Creegan at that point was identified as a national threat local criminal Dale Creegan has evaded police now for five weeks after murdering a father in broad daylight we did the risk assessments and then we were pretty confident that things were moving as best as they could with the information and the intelligence that we had we had armed officers from other parts of the country about what we clearly couldn't do is just abandon normal policing and no would have been right to do it as the desperate search for this fugitive continues the day gets underway and more calls from the public come in meanwhile Fiona and Nicola arrive at Abbey Gardens in Hattersley I was chairing the meeting and we were discussing just various things around police in the division there's no knock on the door the door just literally burst open and one of the detectives from the CID or from the investigative teams within Tameside was stood at the door and he just said boss you better come out there's something happening at Hyde and he didn't really know what it was and I I didn't know what it was but you could see that there was something significant and he said I think it's Creegan and and I turned the radio on hoping that this was just real positive news I mean in my mind I was thinking this is this is good news you know that term with caught him or his hunted himself in or whatever the police radio took just a few seconds - it's a fire into life and and as he did the the the words that came over the radio I'll never forget and it was simply it was it was one of the sergeants who were saying their shot she shoulda shot get an ambulance get an ambulance as the divisional commander tries to process the information coming through the radio the situation quickly develops I remember thinking it that it just doesn't make sense and the radio came on heard the radio operator at the same time trying to call a call sign of golf Mike for one golf Mike for one which was Nicola and Fiona's cold sign because the cold sacred obviously realized that those officers had gone to an address in that area but I don't think had made the link at that point and I certainly hadn't made the link so I recall literally picking up my mobile phone and ringin the duty inspector as Chief Superintendent Adderley rushes to clarify what has happened he received news he will never forget the phone was answered by the sightings who've been on the radio and I remember saying what's going on and Anita said she's dead she's dead and I remember trying to to speak to him I'm saying who's dead and the phone went went off and I rang the callback I rang the phone back immediately and and it was the inspector this time that answered the phone and he said Fiona's dead under were working on Nicola now the brutal and sustained attack on two defenseless young officers marks a devastating end to a reign of terror that began six months previously you started off from a dispute between two families but a dispute which had a long history of animosity as well the two warring families are both notorious names within East Manchester often perhaps the public isn't fully aware of how actually a lot of crime is generated by crime groups who create the market in stolen goods create the market in drugs who get involved in all forms of illegal activity through their power bases through their threats through their intimidation through their reputation will try and rule areas intimidate areas and almost no try and create an alternative economy and an alternative almost criminal justice system both families have a long history of animosity and reputations within their communities but despite this nobody could predict what is to unfold it started from a dispute over a woman in an argument over a woman if somebody had made an advance towards somebody that that person had not taken him up on a particular offer that was seen as disrespect and we do believe that she allegedly had said she was going to get the boys to sort this out a friend of one of the families ends up in a physical argument with a female rival who has many allies just twelve days later at the Cotton tree pub in droidles Dhin Manchester 23 year old mark short is drinking with his friends and dad David just before closing time a masked gunman enters the pub mark short and three of his friends are targeted with a hail of bullets as other customers look on in disbelief I remember quite distinctly it was it had been a long day and I driven home I'd literally arrived home when the phone rang to say that there'd been a murder the 25th of May 2012 and a young father has been brutally murdered in a public house after a heated argument between two families 12 days earlier and three of his friends also like critically injured after a gunman opened fire in front of stunned onlookers because they're talking about people that are in criminal associations that were largely the witnesses and who did not want to speak to the police we're clearly steps had been taken to obviously cover the tracks of those who had committed the attack and that it was a very very difficult investigation as Mark shorts family tried to process the brutal attack rumors begin to circulate that the young father of one was not the killer's intended target and names of those allegedly responsible are beginning to emerge it got to the stage where people were identified as being responsible and including Dale Creegan 31 year old Dale Creegan is a criminal from droidles Dhin Manchester with a very distinct appearance he has one eye maintaining a rumor that he lost the other during a vicious fight in Thailand while Creegan was was known to the police anyway he has a long criminal history so he was well known to us it was not top of the pile so it was quite a lot of intelligence about him and and clearly these two families were very well known about bar on the whole I mean it wasn't particularly active or particularly high on on the radar Creegan is arrested at Manchester Airport as he arrives back to the UK after a trip to Thailand police suspected if he is the culprit that he has not worked alone and with the network of suspects increasing they must also be mindful of any reprisals we're always very worried and that there could be further attacks sort of challenges we had was clearly number one finding the people responsible people who are highly skilled in covering their tracks who will have a wide in a web of associates who will protect them we then had a huge number of people who are potentially a threat and because you know we didn't know who next within the the criminal associations would then be targeted so there was an enormous ly difficult situation of literally hundreds of people on both sides of this dispute who are now at risk who had to be warned about their risk and in certain situations had to be protected what began as a small-scale dispute is now turning into one of Greater Manchester police's largest investigations and the line of inquiry involving Creegan is about to present a challenge we couldn't at that point get sufficient evidence together and which would have then enabled a Crown Prosecution Service to have then charged them and that is what why they were then let out and bail and and that is whether we like or not common occurence a young man lies dead and tensions around his local town of Dresden are running high Creegan is released but weeks later two of his associates 27 year-old Luke Livesey from Hattersley and 38 year old Damien Gorman from Glossop are arrested and charged with murder and three attempted murders but as officers press on their suspects in custody another shock is in store Clayton Manchester mark shorts father David is outside his home unloading a vehicle it is just over ten weeks since his son was shot dead now two men with weapons attack the unsuspecting 43 year old in broad daylight the once the the second murder occur we then realize that we had some significant issues that we had to deal with very very quickly David short is chased through his house as he tries to flee from the gunman but he has nowhere to hide and as he lies dying his attacker doesn't stop there sadly we are not unfamiliar with gang Lund type murders and often with these murders it is gang members shooting each other using traditional or conventional firearms the difference was this one was the the use of hungry need the use of military grenades is not something the force has seen before and is a weapon that causes significant destruction as officers hunt for the ruthless killer evidence from this attack and from the murder of mark short seems to be pointing very firmly to one man Dale Creegan along with certain associates in terms of how we got him and linked him to these offenses it was through forensics first of all how we actually got the link there but secondly there was that there was an incident moments after he'd murdered David short literally moments after he went to an address in Luke Road and was caught on CCTV with we believe the firearm that he used to kill David short and the CCTV footage all were also caught in taking the pin out of the grenade and thrown it an address in Luke Road a shockingly violent attack on a man who has no chance of defending himself officers now have two murders to solve what started off as this you know supposed disrespect for a woman then had escalated you know two people being shot in the pub and then two grenades being used it was an extremely unusual and clearly violent event and particularly you know the use of grenades created huge challenges for us it was a very complex investigation because we now had somebody that we knew was on the loose we knew that he was capable of using hungry nodes which had never been seen before mainland UK he was not afraid to kill murder a maim this cold-blooded attack sparks a nationwide manhunt the police are all too aware that this could trigger more violence and they have a killer on the loose with access to very deadly weapons with advice from the military we knew that they had a kill range of 50 meters and a maiming range of 100 meters potentially we still these hand grenades possibly in Creon's possession and we'd seen the level of violence that he was prepared to use my fear was you throw one of these grenades into into a public house into a nightclub into a police carrier you have killed everybody it was a level of weaponry that was now available and on the streets of Manchester which was which was frightening and I have to say kept me awake at night Creegan at that point was identified as a national threat but in terms of getting national coverage part of the challenge we had was that at that time it was the Olympics so in all the media focus was on the Olympics quite understandably suspecting that the same man is responsible for two murders and has the use of such destructive weapons the police come up with an unprecedented tactic to try to catch him the first reward discussed was was 25,000 pounds I recognized pretty quickly that 25,000 pounds would not be enough to surrender this individual I think mainly because of the fear that was in the community the reward was actually up to 50,000 pounds I remember having the conversation saying you're gonna have to do something which is unprecedented to in terms of reward this is going to have to be life-changing let's say it's a million pounds because I remember my officers coming in and saying that said they were taking down posters in and around the Doyles Dan area saying that if you grass to the police you will not live long enough to spend 50,000 pounds the murder of two men gunned down in cold blood has sparked a nationwide alert for the number one suspect Dale Creegan and having used not only guns but also hand grenades in his last attack police are in a race against time to try to catch him before he strikes again in an unconventional move they decide to offer a reward for any help if you think about the cost of the investigation to that point and you now think about the cost are in terms of lives and everything else that followed then a million pounds to me with small bit the posters that were being put up was indicative of the kind of fear that existed within that community so we had to do something which was which was pretty unique the decision ultimately is that a million pounds is an excessive amount and the 50,000 pound reward is offered in the hope someone will provide information on the whereabouts of Creegan who has now gone on the run and vanished off the radar now the threat had escalated to an incredible proportion that we had over a hundred people that we considered now to be at risk because of the links with these gangs over a hundred people that we considered we're going to be the next target a reward is on offer but a community are remaining silent what started as an argument in a pub now potentially involves hundreds of people as more officers are drafted in another of Creegan 'aa compasses 24-year old jermaine ward is charged with david shorts murder as police continue to press on those closest to their main suspect in the hope of hunting him down there was a lot of pressure put on various associates family members clearly there was a huge number of rumors circulating there was material on social media even to this day there are people who will tell you that they knew where he was you know we know that's untrue it does show clearly and that if you are determined and to evade the police if you are pretty skilled in some of those evasion techniques because of your previous criminal history because what you've been able to pick up about police tactics each time than when you were arrested and convicted because material is disclosed you in the court process and then clearly that is an enormous challenge for policing and for law enforcement in general clearly we've examined a lot of our tactics since we've developed some new tactics I think when it hit home quite how serious this was was looking around and seeing Dale Krieg in his face and that very memorable image now on Billboard's that the police need to find this man although there have been a number of arrests over the months their main target is nowhere to be found the hunt focuses on Creegan and another man Anthony Wilkinson Wilkinson is a 33 year old associate of creakings from Bezeq Manchester he was on the room with with Anthony Wilkinson we knew that he had a number of people that had assisted him in this in the preparation of this crime and committing crimes and so we had all of those those individuals that we were we were looking for as well despite hundreds of offices across the country being pulled in to try and track the pair down and the search now extending beyond the UK and into Europe the two wanted men evade the police until weeks later in a shocked move one hands himself in it was fair to say that after Anthony Wilkinson surrendered himself to custody that Creegan was the main player he was the one that we feared would create the most problems for the communities and would create most problems for us Wilkinson takes the decision to surrender peacefully two officers leaving one very dangerous man at large we've been under huge pressure you know it was 24 hours a day seven days a week we put into it you know put into place a number of measures in terms of trying to you know quantify the risk we had a lot more armed officers we had armed officers from other parts of the country about what we clearly couldn't do is just abandon normal placing Dale Creegan has been missing for five weeks when the emergency services receive a call from a member of the public complaining about damage to his property sometimes our three big concrete slab learn about when Donna were you in the room where it came through or did you hear the band was upstairs or what's other window seem on by run out the kitchen window that's gone through yeah kitchen believing this to be a genuine call for help local police constables Fiona bone and Nicola Hughes are asked to go to the caller's aid they'll try and get up there as soon as it is the possibility still knocking about all right I'm sweating okay oh wait I'll be waiting the Fiona was obviously the first and she knocked on the door we do know that Creek an opened the door and immediately began firing this Glock 9-millimeter weapon up Fiona and Nicola no words were exchanged he just simply started firing with this extended magazine on this weapon fiona has a taser gun that she courageously tries to deploy but Creegan shows no mercy on either woman they don't stand a chance after the sustained attack he flees in a vehicle and in a bizarre move drives to the local police station and gives himself up we've then got Creegan who'd obviously driven to were to hide police station and I'd handed himself in did he have hung grenades on him was that police station now going to get blown up with hand grenades was the vehicle that he was in was that booby-trapped with these grenades did he still have the weapon on him officers rushed to contain the murderer the enormity of the situation is taking hold tragically Fiona loses her life at the scene whilst people do everything they can to save her colleague Nicola I've got one officer than inspector is telling me is dead I've got another officer they're saying he's working on that was Nicola what did working on mean it seems I was a stood there forever and almost as if I was I was looking down on the situation and I feel in a way quite quite annoyed at myself about that because you would think that you would know what to do but I've said this many a time with just ordinary people we are just ordinary people Nicola is rushed to hospital but her injuries are extensive we're driving home and then a phone call came up and it was a unknown number Hamid Ansari in the car and it was this a DCI from Manchester he said need to speak to you and then I could sense in his voice that was something that I said well why what's happening says where are you I some driving home from work that's in Nikhil the night before and I thought she said to me I'm off for five days now but she said I'm on for five days obviously I miss earliest he said worry I'll come and get you I'll come and get you and he said you know there's no easy way of saying it and he didn't actually say the words but he just said no easy way of saying it and then the next what two or three miles were Oh a blur a nightmare 23 year old Nicola Hughes loses her life in hospital despite desperate attempts to save her I was at work and the phone - it was bring ringing me I realized that he said nah Nikki's dead and and it it's that kind of thing where the room feels like it's spinning and it just takes your breath away and as Nicholas family are told of the devastating news officers rushed to locate Fiona's parents almost a hundred and fifty miles away on the Isle of Man we were sitting having lunch and we got the Musil and the headlines were to police women have been killed in Manchester and Ally vague but I fiona's please won't be in Manchester should I give her a range shot a lot and then I was knock on the door and the pan that was it and so I opened the door to please sergeant bison please lady and said we may as well come in then we'd called all of the team back in off the streets and they were all sat in in the canteen at Ashton police station when we walked into the into the canteen and they were all sat there and you know you can imagine you could era you could have heard a pin drop and we had to obviously give the news and the devastation that that created that they just sit just then to be informed that they'd lost two of their colleagues on you know what had been just a call to a wreath of routine burglary or damage she's just the level of grief in that room was was palpable and and then of course you've got to offer them the support clearly they couldn't go back on onto the streets gradually the horrific news starts to make their headlines across the country as everyone tries to absorb the magnitude of what has happened it's difficult to describe out I really obviously if you're feeling know me feeling shocked you're feeling anger you name it every emotion you could think of he's going through your head I think she's so easygoing if that was one of the one of massive qualities actually was really easygoing she was so wise he was intelligent witty she liked the the the job itself she hated the call chair to the wet and she didn't mind the shits she liked the excitement of the police and she enjoyed what she did she enjoyed helping people she moved to Manchester where she became a special and she enjoyed being a special all three of all nights a week whatever it was she did and she really liked it so from the special she tried joining the police world and eventually she did she liked it any think there was a bit risky dodgy or could upset anyone one told us we only got to hear the good bits nobody could have predicted the sequence of events that has unfolded we were innocent officers murdered on a routine call the first such incident to involve two females and whilst the shock sinks in investigators discover another disturbing element not only has Creegan ambushed innocent women but has also taken a family hostage in their own home and used this as a base from where he made the hoax call Cree can help these people hostage would threat of murdering them and blowing up the daughter and all the rest of it he allowed the occupant to go to work that morning but it threatens Achilles his partner and child if he had called the police twenty-three-year-old Nicola Hughes and 32 year old Fiona bone have been shot in a calculated and ruthless attack what police believed to be a routine call turns out to be an ambush by a callous murderer that they had been hunting for months and despite trying to evade officers during 42 days on the run Dale Creegan turns himself in to police after holding a terrified family hostage in their own home since the night before I've got every sympathy with the occupant of that house because I I know what we could have done and what we would how we would have reacted he doesn't know that and he would have to have that level of confidence that we could have neutralized that threat without harm coming to his child or his partner and he didn't have that so that was difficult astonishingly Creegan switches between normal conversation and deathly threats to the occupants whilst brandishing his weapons before hatching his plan to call police the next day and lure unsuspecting officers to their deaths Creegan reportedly had said he was sorry that it was women they wish he had been men I want to make the point that Creegan saw those officers walking towards that address and had a number of opportunities not to engage with those officers and if you look at Nicola was 23 at the time it just looks like a child I'm Fiona who's 5 foot nothing you could see that these were two individuals that actually were not going to pose much of a threat to him in any case so this business about wishing there had been men is nonsense if it hadn't been nuclear piona it'll mean something else Nicola wasn't normally crewed with Fiona so that was purely random and it's just bad luck wrong place wrong time another reminder of the incredible risks and the great work our Police Service does the loss of both women brings the nation to a standstill as their families and the police force have the harrowing task of preparing for their funerals and my thoughts and I think the thoughts of the whole country will be with their families this impossibly difficult time you expect your children to plan your funeral you don't expect upon your own children funeral so it was really strange we had to get this right for the families of Nicola and Fiona and for Nicola and Fiona we had to get that right it was emotionally and physically draining and I often begged the point you know that we are we are very well trained within the police and you think that that will carry through and it just doesn't it just doesn't two weeks on from the murders Manchester standstill as colleagues friends and members of the public lined the streets to pay their respects firstly to Nicola I mean it was a rendus occasion for me booked support we had leading up to Ellen on a day it made you sort it obvious ought the energy from people even though it was a sad occasion obviously it felt like the country stopped certainly mentioned I came to a stop and I can't tell you what it meant for our officers just the number one the enormous support from our colleagues the following day thousands of people pay their respects once more and say goodbye to Fiona we are taken to match it's a heater a few days earlier just to see the what the Cathedral look like and meet the principal people conducting the service when we thought how are you going to fill this place fast and that came was quite a shock the sheer number of people one you've got outside the cathedral and all those people standing Pauline hazard amazingly humbling as the tragic loss of the two young women sinks in the enormity of the situation weighs heavily on their colleagues shoulders I think one of the things for me was I felt so responsible for their deaths and still do and so responsible to the community I remember that not going home on some days because if something else happened I would have to be there to explain why that was we always have a plan there's always a way through this we'll sort this out and then suddenly after the funerals I remember sitting there and thinking you have no plan you know you tried to reassure the public that you can't keep them safe and look after them and yet I was unable to do that for my own and then I remember meeting with the Chief Constable and the conversation saying that that I've got to go I have to resign the divisional commanders decision to leave is met with strong opposition from the Chief Constable who urges him to reconsider I just couldn't get up in the morning I do Eliade a gaunt for me the chief superintendent decides to stick with the force but as he along with the rest of Fiona and niccola's colleagues struggle with their loss the legalities must continue the case against Dale Creegan and his associates is prepared for Court Creegan gave himself up he didn't want to be killed and then there was an enormous investigation and people may think well that's easy you know it's obviously him that did it but you they know this you have to prove the whole sequence we had to try and find out where he had been who had sheltered him who'd supported him all the other criminal associates had been involved in the case so there was an enormous investigation the authorities are taking no chances when Cragen's trial begins a convoy of police vehicles escort the suspect to the court each day and the level of security is unprecedented it was a different category of trials in their armed offices were around the call they were and the roofs of buildings and it made it clear how much of a threat the police believed this man to be the highly-charged trial starts with the number one suspect pleading not guilty to any of the four murders there was this fear of course that you might get off with it so in the back of my mind I'm thinking yes he could be found not guilty in terms of safety on the streets of Greater Manchester and same side what would that mean we were in the second week of the trial before we heard that Dale Creegan was to change his plea to guilty for the murders of PC Nicola Hughes and Fiona bone Creegan also admits to murdering mark and David short weeks into the trial the court catches a glimpse into the mind of this killer Dale Creegan said that he murdered PC Nicola Hughes and Fiona bone because during the course of that manhunt his family had been hounded by the police and that this the culmination of of the man on was the way he'd exact his revenge the police had to find this man they knew how dangerous he was but they couldn't have anticipated two unarmed female officers with no way of defending themselves against a man with a a gun and a grenade and that level of danger becomes evident once more when during the proceedings officers raid an address and discover a further 10 grenades belonging to Creegan after a trial lasting 19 weeks Dale Creegan is found guilty of murdering mark and David short Fiona bone and Nicola Hughes he was sentenced to a whole life tariff which in itself is unusual it's not something that we always see similar sentences are given to the other men who have been arrested and charged over the months Luke Livesey and Damien Gorman received life in prison for murdering mark short and the attempted murder of three of his friends Germaine Ward and Anthony Wilkinson are found guilty and sent to jail for life for their part in the murder of David short the sentence handed down to Creegan for murdering the officers can never be enough the families of Nicola Fiona and colleagues will will never see their you know the loved ones again and so almost nothing can nothing can compensate for that if you take someone's life and you deserve you know for the rest of your life here you're incarcerated you locked up and that's what I think if I focused on that person it eat so it's like it's like taking poison or pin yourself and up in there dying yet they don't with the verdict through everyone is left to cope with their grief Cragen's disregard for the law continues with rumors of him smuggling drugs and a telephone inside the prison but despite this lasting legacies are formed in Fiona and Nicholas names you've got two choices in the you can you can either give up you can either go and hide yourself away or you can carry on you can pull yourself and I know what necklace says she said boys off together carry on get up and do something I needed something as a challenge for myself and and I would do it was three charities that helped us in in the early stages and I wanted to give them something back so I thought I'll run a marathon van and my wife was talking and me visible why don't we establish his own charity in Nicholas name in March 2014 the Nicola Hughes Memorial Fund is established to give support and skills to young people who have suffered a tragic loss so we thought well yeah well we'll do things to help impractical wise will pay for driving lessons furthermore pay for school shoes because let's face it that if dads murdered family incomes you could be gone could be wiped out but the loss of Nicola affects others differently I think Ben and I started to pull in different directions because he was certainly charging that was really positive to him but that for me was just a continual reminder of what had happened the charity becomes a formidable force with Brin achieving feats such as a marathon at the North Pole to raise money and awareness I've sort of realized how positive saying with charities been for the Brin and I focus on that now and and whilst I still can't be involved in the the element of it that's about Nicola I try to be more involved in the kind of logistical things and like social media and things like that and the lasting tribute is also paid to Fiona the building of an assisted living complex in her name when we found out we said yes that's a wonderful thing and they invited us across to lay the foundation stone Fiona would have enjoyed Fiona gardens she did to that of rose gold ward as a care assistant in a care home on the Isle of Man he filled his very down-to-earth person and you know she had a commendation didn't mention it to you know that that was feeling it's something I've done move on it's kind of a middle ground now I think between being able to remember really positively but still it destroying you when you kind of remember what happened being around her was just a pleasure she was just with the nicest people you could imagine I think you've just got to remember the good times you can't dwell on the past you can't do anything about the person who stuck in the evening we possibly ring each other on I'll really miss those phones it's incredibly hard not to do it and I was find himself in tears going along it's a road the milk how reasons you know I really do miss Fiona nobody to play with anymore nobody's saying we have drinking when they shouldn't things like that I still remember as laughing her head off and and you know being friendly and practical jokes and jumping on me when she sees me an infidel so that's how I remember Nicola you [Music] you

Channel: Crimes That Shook Britain

Views: 1,178,261

Rating: 4.6495447 out of 5

Keywords: Crimes That Shook Britain, Britain, UK Crimes, UK, Crimes, Crime, Criminals, Murderer, Murder, Theft, Robbery, Abduction, Break the Law, Dale Cregan, TV, Television, Reality, Reality TV, Reality Television, Cineflix, Production, Production Company

Id: -htfoLYlppk

Length: 43min 29sec (2609 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 19 2016