Vigil To Mark Shooting Of Two Policewomen

A vigil has been held to mark the moment a week ago when two policewomen were gunned down answering a routine call.

Colleagues of PCs Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes, 23, joined members of the community in Hattersley, Greater Manchester, to observe a minute's silence.

The policewomen had been called to a burglary on the Hattersley estate in Tameside when they were attacked last Tuesday morning.

Greater Manchester Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy addressed the gathering and said: "What you've seen over the past week is Greater Manchester Police as one big family. We lost two members of that family and we feel that loss very, very deeply.

"But I know that ourselves, all the officers and staff of Greater Manchester Police - particularly the families of Fiona and Nicola - have been hugely moved and uplifted by the great public support from around the country, indeed around the word, but particularly from the people of Hattersley and Mottram.

"The man who committed this act was not from this community. The small group of people who protected him were not from this community and it is very important to say that.

"We work with the people here in Hattersley and Mottram and across Tameside every day of the week and we know what a great community this is."

A 29-year-old man, Dale Cregan, has appeared in court accused of murdering the officers.