'32 bullets in 31 seconds in detailed plan to slay police'

- Court hears of plan allegedly formulated by one-eyed gunman Dale Cregan- He is charged with murdering two police officers in gun and grenade attack- Preston crown court heard he killed police after feud between Manchester families
Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes and Dale Creegan Composite Split PA
Rashid Razaq11 February 2013
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A gunman fired 32 bullets in 31 seconds at two unarmed police officers when he executed a “detailed plan” to lure them to their deaths in a firearm and grenade attack, a court heard today.

Dale Cregan, 29, is accused of murdering Pcs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes in Hyde, Greater Manchester after killing his gang rivals, father and son David and Mark Short.

Preston Crown Court has heard that one-eyed Cregan went on the run after organising the killings following a “simmering feud” between two rival Manchester families.

Today, Nicholas Clarke QC, opening the case for the prosecution, said that after murdering the policewomen: “He then fled the scene before colleagues of the fatally injured officers could arrive.” Cregan dropped the gun and jumped into a blue BMW, the prosecutor said.

“Before he fled Abbey Gardens he made sure that he left his usual calling card,” Mr Clarke said. “He launched a fragmentation grenade back towards the garden of number 30, where the two police officers were lying on the floor.

“This exploded causing further injuries to Nicola Hughes, who was nearest to the grenade. She had already been fatally injured by the gunshot wounds inflicted upon her. The grenade itself did not cause or contribute to her death.”

Pc Hughes’s mother Susan and father Bryn sat in the public gallery along with the parents of her murdered colleague, Paul and June Bone, and Pc Bone’s partner Clare Curran.

The trial continues.

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