Fathers of murdered cops Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone are first to obtain new award for households of public servants killed within the line of responsibility

The fathers of murdered police officers Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone are the first to receive a new award for families of public servants who are killed in the line of duty.

Bryn Hughes and Paul Bone both received an Elizabeth Emblem following the deaths of their daughters PCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, who were murdered by Dale Cregan in Greater Manchester in 2012. 

Following a campaign by Mr Hughes and Mr Bone, it was announced earlier this year that the emblem would be awarded to the next of kin of police officers, firefighters and other public servants.

They said it was ‘vitally important’ as every public sector worker who dies in the line of duty ‘should have the opportunity to be remembered and honoured’.

Greater Manchester PCs Ms Hughes, 23, and Ms Bone, 32, were shot dead by Cregan while responding to reports of a burglary in Hattersley, Tameside, on 18 September 2012. 

Fugitive Cregan lured the unarmed PCs to a property with a hoax 999 call and when they arrived, he shot both women at least eight times before throwing a grenade at them. 

The Elizabeth Emblem is the civilian equivalent of the Elizabeth Cross, which recognises members of the UK armed forces who died in action or as a result of a terrorist attack.

Asked about the award, Mr Hughes said: ‘I think it’s vitally important, not just for Nicola and Fiona and for other police officers, but all public sector workers who are killed or die in the line of duty or in operational circumstances.

‘It’s vitally important that they’re recognised and remembered.’

Mr Hughes said politicians had told him the award was ‘long overdue’, adding ‘there was an element of surprise that nothing like this existed before’.

Both men met the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden on Wednesday over their campaigning work, with Mr Bone saying the meeting was ‘icing on the cake’ for their campaign.

Mr Bone said Sir Keir Starmer told them ‘he couldn’t imagine losing his children’.

He added: ‘We kind of replied: ‘Well, we didn’t actually imagine losing ours either, but once it’s happened, you’ve got to carry on’.’

The design of the emblem includes a rosemary wreath, a traditional symbol of remembrance, surrounding a Tudor Crown and the inscription ‘For A Life Given In Service’.

After the deaths in 2012, Mr Bone broke down in tears as he told how much his daughter loved her job.

He said he had never feared such a terrible outcome, even though his days as an RAF groundcrew man had accustomed him to colleagues ‘not coming home’.

His daughter was engaged to be married and had told fellow officers about arrangements for her forthcoming wedding.

PC Bone had spoken to her partner about designing invitations before she set off for work, and police colleagues had given her some tips.

But a routine call to respond to a burglary later that morning saw ‘excellent bobby’ PC Bone and her ‘chatterbox’ colleague brutally gunned down.

Asked how his daughter would feel about the award, Mr Hughes said: ‘I know Nicola would be embarrassed.

‘I think she’d be pleased and proud that it had happened for us, but I think she’d be embarrassed about it.’

Mr Bone said he would like their daughters to be remembered as ‘happy, bubbly public servants’, adding ‘they were doing their job happily, tried to help people – on that day it just went all wrong’.

Mr Hughes, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, said his daughter Nicola ‘loved the job’.

He added: ‘Police officers put their lives on the line every single day. They don’t know what they’re going into.

‘They don’t know what’s behind that door and for me that says a lot about what they do every day.’

One-eyed Cregan’s killing spree started when he murdered amateur boxer Mark Short, 23, at a pub in Droylsden, Manchester, in April.

Three other people, believed to be related to the victim, were also wounded, suffering leg and back injuries.

Four months later Mark Short’s father David was killed in a gun attack in Clayton, Manchester. Mr Short had branded his son’s murderers ‘cowards’.

Nine minutes after the incident, police received reports that shots had been fired at a second property in Droylsden, where there was also a grenade blast. Nobody was injured in the incident.

Detectives said they wanted to speak to Cregan, who they had released in May after linking him to the first murder but did not have the evidence to charge him.

In September that year the killer used a fake 999 call to lure officers Ms Bone and Ms Hughes to a house.

When they arrived, Cregan shot them and threw an M75 grenade at them. Both officers were hit by at least eight bullets as Cregan fired 32 shots in 31 seconds.

He later handed himself in at a police station, admitting to killing the unarmed women.

The gangster admitted the attempted murder of three others in a high profile court case the following year.

Cregan was convicted of all four murders and three attempted murders and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order on June 13, 2013.

He was told he would never see release after admitting to the killings which prompted public outcry and an outpouring of sympathy for the police.

His accomplice, Anthony Wilkinson, was jailed for a minimum of 35 years for his part in the gun and grenade murder of David Short.

Meanwhile, Lissie Harper, widow of police officer Andrew Harper, is also among the recipients of the honour.

PC Harper, who worked for Thames Valley Police, was killed while responding to a bike theft by three teenagers in Berkshire in August 2019.

He was caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and dragged down a winding country road, just four weeks after getting married.

The daughter of firefighter Leslie Marsh, of West Midlands Fire Service, will be awarded the Emblem 75 years after he died falling through a hole in the first floor of a derelict church when responding to a fire February 7, 1949.

Sir Keir said: ‘We must never forget those who have given their lives to protect others in the line of duty.

‘While families will never be able to replace their loved ones, the Elizabeth Emblem pays tribute to the sacrifice they have made.’