Dale Cregan was jailed for life for the murders of David Short, 46, and son Mark, 23, and of policewomen Nicola Hughes, 23, and Fiona Bone, 32 in 2012
Merseyside Police scene outside Aintree University Hospital(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Police killer Dale Cregan was transferred from Ashworth hospital to Aintree in a high-security operation. A significant police presence was deployed when he was moved late at night.
Photos show officers outside Aintree University Hospital earlier this week after he was taken there for an apparently pre-arranged appointment. Cregan was jailed for life for the murders of David Short, 46, and son Mark, 23, and of policewomen Nicola Hughes, 23, and Fiona Bone, 32, in a horrifying gun and grenade attack in 2012.
In a statement Merseyside Police said: “We can confirm Merseyside Police were present at Aintree Hospital on Monday December 1, providing support whilst a patient received medical support. There is no longer a police presence at the hospital.”
The Ministry of Justice said it could not comment.
Notorious criminal Dale Cregan who received a whole life sentence
Cregan was admitted to Manchester Eye Hospital under armed guard a few years ago due to an apparent growth on his remaining eye. It is not clear if the appointment at Aintree was for the same reason. Cregan, who was transferred to Ashworth from a mainstream prison shortly after his conviction in 2013, claimed he lost his left eye during a fight on a trip to Thailand.
In 2013, Cregan had a £20,000 bounty placed on his remaining good eye by a rival criminal gang. The imprisoned head of a crime family in south England was said to have put out the contract.
The rival gang leader was said to be sympathetic to the Shorts and made the contract payable on the destruction of Cregan’s good right eye in prison.
Cregan, then a fugitive having murdered the Shorts, two gangland rivals, lured police to a house with a false report of a burglary. He killed PCs Nicola from Saddleworth, and Fiona. from Sale, in cold-blood as they approached the door of a house in Mottram-in Longdendale, Tameside, where he had been hiding.
A large police presence accompanied the move(Image: Liverpool Echo)
In an act of extreme violence on the morning of September 18, 2012 Cregan fired 32 shots he fired from his Glock – with its extended magazine. It shocked the nation.
As he opened the front door to the maisonette in Abbey Gardens, to confront the approaching officers, he blasted them both in the chest. The only reason they didn’t die immediately was because they were wearing body armour.
Both made a run for it. PC Bone tried to dart to the side across the front garden while PC Hughes, feisty but only a touch over 5ft 3in tall, turned back up the path. More shots were fired at them.
A shot to PC Hughes’ back severed her spinal cord and she collapsed paralysed onto the ground. She was shot three more times either as she fell, or while laying face down on the path.
Cregan then fired another 24 shots at PC Bone. Some missed. The brave officer fought back and managed to draw her Taser stun gun. She pulled the trigger but hit the pavement rather than Cregan.
In all she suffered eight gunshot wounds. One of those bullets penetrated a gap in the side of the body armour under her arm and caused fatal injuries to her heart.