The dads of two police officers murdered on duty 10 years ago have made a fresh plea for a medal to honour their bravery.
PC Nicola Hughes, 23, and PC Fiona Bone, 32, were ambushed by a cowardly gangland thug with guns and a grenade after they attended a call-out to a hoax burglary in September 2012.
And the Mirror is backing the latest call for posthumous medals to be awarded to emergency services workers killed on duty.
Bryn Hughes and Paul Bone launched the Medals for Heroes campaign in April, demanding the Government recognise public servants who have paid the ultimate price with an Elizabeth Medal.
Retired prison officer, Bryn, 59, said: “It would mean that everything that Nicola stood for, everything she did in her career in her life wasn’t wasted.
“The fact that she paid that ultimate sacrifice along with Fiona and other officers since and before then, it would mean that they are not forgotten.
“They will never be forgotten by the families, but they’d also be honoured and respected.
“Nicola would go to work with her hat on with the crown on it, serving the crown, protecting the public.
“When she went to work that day, herself and Fiona were executed and it now seems fitting that the crown should honour them by awarding the families a medal in their name and in their memory.”
The families of the two brave victims told how they keep their memory alive, as they prepare to spend their 10th Christmas without them.
For Bryn it is as simple as getting out an old pair of socks from Nicola. He said: “She bought me Christmas socks, ones saying ‘super dad’, they must be 12-15 years old but I still bring them out.”
Bryn also dusts off old Christmas cards with Nicola’s handwriting and puts them on display with his favourite picture of her.
It is a snapshot of Nicola flaunting her nails painted with miniature snowmen and pine trees. Christmas was her favourite time of year.
Retired engineer Paul still buys his late daughter’s festive favourite… a yule log, and her mum June’s family go for a drink with Fiona at her grave in Scotland at New Year.
The 74-year-old added: “We always ensure flowers are on her grave at Christmas. We lay a plate for her, which is a bit silly, but there’s always a place for her at the table.
“She always bought me a Jack Reacher book for Christmas, I keep up the tradition of buying myself a Jack Reacher book now. The whole family knows about her, even the ones that weren’t there at the time.”
Nicola and Fiona were cruelly cut down by one-eyed killer Dale Cregan, who unleashed 32 bullets in under a minute, and hurled a grenade, after the fake call-out in Tameside, Manchester. The vile 39-year-old, who had also killed two gangland rivals, was jailed for life in 2013.
These small Christmas gestures by Bryn and Paul for their daughters are private affairs, and now it is time for these women to be hailed as the public heroes they are.
The Elizabeth Medal is currently only awarded to British armed forces personnel killed in action.
In eight months the campaign has already received cross-party support with more than 50 MPs signing a letter to Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Labour’s Angela Raynor, Jonathan Reynolds, Tory Jason McCartney and Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham are among those who have added their signature. Campaigners want medals be awarded to police, firefighters and paramedics killed in the line of duty.
Police Federation of England and Wales Deputy National Chair Tiff Lynch said: “We’ve been working on this campaign now for over a decade and we’ve been working closely with Bryn since April.
“All our officers know that the job they do comes with some risk and as we ask members of the public to run away from danger, we are well aware that we have to move toward it.
“As emergency service responders, it’s what we’re expected to do.
“Bryn’s daughter Nicola and her colleague Fiona Bone did this when they responded to a 999 emergency call 10 years ago.
“Sadly other officers too have lost their lives whilst protecting or helping others and it’s on this basis that, along with Bryn, we continue to ask the Home Office to help with formal state recognition for any emergency service worker who dies in the direct execution of their duties.”
The fresh appeal for medals comes as two widows and a widower of police officers yesterday lost an appeal against a pension rule that cuts off payments if they remarry or live with a new partner. Sharon Green, Jacqueline Jennings and Paul Sneller took the Metropolitan Police to the High Court over the lawfulness of a provision of the 1987 police pension scheme.
They claimed the payments cut was preventing them moving on with new romances.
That was dismissed by a judge in May so the trio took their case to the Court of Appeal, where it was also rejected by three senior judges.
