Dale Cregan was born at Tameside General Hospital on 6 June 1983 to Paul Cregan, a tool setter from Manchester, and Anita Marie Cregan. He is one of three siblings. Cregan's older brother Dean was born two years earlier and a younger sister followed, before his father left the family and eventually married a former policewoman with Greater Manchester Police. Cregan attended the now-defunct Littlemoss High School in Droylsden, Greater Manchester, where he began dealing cannabis and reportedly developed a 'bad fetish' for knives. He spent eighteen months living with his sister in Tenerife. Upon his return, Cregan began collecting firearms until he possessed around ten weapons, including machine guns. By the age of 22, Cregan had begun dealing cocaine, claiming £20,000 a week in profits but always giving his official job as a 'plasterer'. Cregan is known as 'One Eye' due to his missing left eye, which is believed to have been carved out with a knife under circumstances unknown; he has told friends it was the result of a brawl in Thailand. During his 17-week trial, Cregan had to take out his false eye as he left and returned from court to ensure officers could check he was not hiding anything in the empty socket.
Murders and subsequent convictions
On 25 May 2012, Cregan shot dead Mark Short, 23, in the Cotton Tree pub in Droylsden. In the same incident, he tried to kill three other men. On 10 August, he killed Short's father, 46-year-old David Short, at his house in Clayton. Cregan shot the elder Short nine times with a Glock 19 pistol and then threw an M75 hand grenade onto him, blowing his body apart and killing him instantly. On 18 September 2012, Cregan made a hoax emergency call to police. GMP Constables Nicola Hughes, 23, and Fiona Bone, 32, were mobilised to Cregan's call inHattersley. Cregan lured the officers by claiming there had been an incident of criminal damage at his house. When they arrived, he ambushed the unarmed officers, shooting them and throwing an M75 grenade at them. Both officers were hit by at least eight bullets as Cregan fired 32 shots in 31 seconds. PC Bone died at the scene, and PC Hughes died shortly after reaching hospital. Cregan later turned himself in at a local police station, admitting to killing Hughes and Bone. He was charged with these murders, and, soon afterward, was also charged with the murders of Mark and David Short.
Trial and aftermath
During his trial, which began on 4 February 2013, Cregan was detained at Manchester Prison. The trial was held at Preston Crown Court, where scaffolding was erected to accommodate armed officers. Police snipers watched over the building from nearby offices. The daily convoy, carrying Cregan between Manchester and Preston, included two prison vans, police cars, motorcycle outriders and a helicopter. In total, 120 GMP officers were deployed daily. The total cost of the trial was in excess of £5 million. Some argued that the costs would have been far less had Cregan been imprisoned at Preston Prison. Cregan was convicted of all four murders and of three attempted murders altogether, but found not guilty of the attempted murder of Sharon Hark. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order on 13 June 2013. In August 2013 it was reported that Cregan was on hunger strike at HM Prison Full Sutton. He was moved to Ashworth Hospitalin September 2013. He was transferred back to Manchester in March 2018 from Ashworth, where it was reported he had boasted about his workout regime and access to snooker and tennis.
