Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Wednesday, 18th September 2024, at 08:45hrs
PC Nicola Hughes & PC Fiona Bone were tragically murdered in the line of duty on the 18th September 2012.
An annual memorial will take place today at Hyde Police Stations Memorial Garden to remember the brave police officers PC Fiona Bone and PC Nicola Hughes, who were both tragically murdered in the line of duty 12 years ago today.
On the 18th of September 2012, both officers were responding to reports of a burglary in Tameside, Greater Manchester, when they were ambushed by Dale Cregan, who attacked them with hand grenades and a gun. They both sadly died of their injuries at the scene.
The incident sent shockwaves across the country, with the incident being one of the first in England to see two female police officers killed in the line of duty.
Chief Constable at the time Peter Fahy called the attack ‘cold blooded murder’ and former prime minister David Cameron described the killings as a despicable act of pure evil.
Dale Cregan was arrested and charged and faced a trial at Preston Crown Court in 2013, he changed his plea to guilty against PC Nicola Hughes and PC Fiona Bone and later pleaded guilty to another two murders which were linked to a gangland feud in Manchester.
Cregan was handed a whole life tariff at Preston Crown Court on 13th June 2013.
Nicola’s father, Bryn, said: “As a parent you remember with immense pride, that moment your child puts on their uniform as a police officer and swears to serve and protect the public. You recall with interest when they tell you about the training and how excited and nervous they are about going out on patrol on their first day. You think ‘wow this is my daughter’, and your heart swells with love and pride.
“Never in your darkest dreams do you think you will lose them doing the job they love, and never do you think that you will be standing at the new UK Police Memorial, remembering and honouring them.
“I remember the day Nicola died like it was yesterday. I initially thought she was off duty. I was driving home from work when I got a call from a Detective Chief Inspector who broke the news to me. Even now I remember the exact words he said to me, ‘there’s no easy way of saying this’.
“I cannot change the past however much I wish I could, but what I can do is to support the UK Police Memorial to ensure that police officers like Nicola and Fiona are remembered and never forgotten. I am encouraging everyone to support the building of the Memorial, not only to remember my daughter, but to honour the courage and sacrifice of all those from our Police service who have given us so much.”
Over recent months we have stood with pride outside our homes on a Thursday evening quite rightly remembering and paying tribute to NHS workers and thanking them for their courage and dedication. Yet every day members of our Police service put on their uniform and set out on the streets of our cities, towns and villages, to keep us safe and protect us from harm, without a second thought for their own safety. Tragically some like Nicola and Fiona never return home at the end of their shift.
Fiona’s father Paul Bone added: “The Arboretum is a place of inspiration and reflection, where families of our armed forces can remember the sacrifices of their loved ones.
“When we think of the largest peacekeeping force in the United Kingdom, it saddens me that there is no appropriate memorial to remember those police officers who have laid down their lives over the years for their country, at the place where the nation comes together and remembers.
“The new Police Memorial at the Arboretum will give my family some comfort, and the general public some knowledge of the sacrifices that officers have made to keep them safe.
“The memorial itself will be a fitting monument to the UK Police Service, both past, present and future. I look forward to standing, head bowed, at the Memorial, thinking of Fiona and all those others who have lost their lives, or been seriously injured carrying out the duties of a police constable.”
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