Greater Manchester Police wins national award

Alan Webster, head judge, DC Stuart Kay, DC Elaine Robinson, Daren Greener, Phil Vanes BM Polyco (sponsor)

Greater Manchester Police have won the Innovation in Forensics category at The Investigator Excellence in Investigations Awards. The case in question was against Dale Cregan and nine others charged with the murders of Mark Short and David Short in Manchester. The winning team was DC Sandra Parry, DC Stuart Kay and Elaine Robinson.

In respect of the individual murders, Dale Cregan had recruited differing gangs of associates to assist in each staged attack. This extended the complexity of the required communications analysis and data management that would ultimately determine those involved and their level of co-operation either in assisting Cregan directly in each murder or in his protracted attempts to evade capture.

The team processed over 3,000 pages of mobile phone records and data during their investigations ahead of the trial of Dale Cregan and the nine other men.

The jury at Preston Crown Court heard hours of evidence over several days relating to the collated telecommunications traffic, which prosecutors say proved the links between Cregan and others who assisted in the pub shooting of Mark Short and the shooting and grenade attack of David Short in his home. The evidence aired in court, was only a fraction of the data painstakingly collected, analysed and managed by the team.

The awards were held at Tally Ho, West Midlands Police Conference Centre in Birmingham on 29 January 2014. Nine awards were given out to UK police forces, the cases between them resulted in over 500 years in jail sentences.

Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood from Greater Manchester Police said: “This was a particularly difficult case to work on given the circumstances and the team worked tirelessly to ensure a successful outcome, not only for the families involved but also their colleagues.

“I’m delighted that this commitment, dedication and diligence has been recognised with this award and I applaud the team on the professionalism shown during one of the most challenging times the Force has ever experienced.”