The father of a murdered police officer has backed calls for a new posthumous award for emergency service workers who die in the line of duty. Bryn Hughes has endorsed a new campaign to persuade the government to launch a new award for police officers, firefighters, paramedics and prison officers killed in service. Neither his daughter Nicola Hughes, 23, from Saddleworth, nor her colleague Fiona Bone, 32, from Sale, were ever given such an award, although there are memorials to their sacrifice.
The two PCs were murdered in a gun-and-grenade attack by fugitive Dale Cregan after he lured them to an address in Mottram-in-Longdendale near Hattersley in September 2012. Now Bryn, a former prison officer, has joined a campaign by the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file cops, and the Police Superintendents' Association, for a new award to recognise fallen emergency service workers. He said any awards should be backdated.
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The campaigners are seeking Home Office approval and cross-party support to enhance the current honours and awards system, which they say fails to adequately reflect the dedication, commitment and sacrifice of those who lost their lives. The award envisaged is similar to the Elizabeth Cross, which is awarded to the bereaved relatives of members of the British armed forces killed in action.
Bryn, who has Nicola’s police number 14846 tattooed on his wrist, said: "Police officers and emergency service workers like Nicola are human beings who go to work expecting to finish their shift then head home to see family. They willingly sign up to serve the public, knowing the dangers they might face.
"In my daughter Nicola’s case she was the tiniest thing, just 5ft tall. When she died, a colleague told me: ‘she had the body of a lion cub, and the heart of a lion’.
"As a society, it’s only fitting and right we recognise her service and courage. I am backing this campaign as the creation of a new medal would fittingly honour fallen colleagues, and the families of emergency workers who have suffered a devastating loss.
“It would mean so much to so many for the government to officially show formal gratitude to Nicola and others and say ‘thank you’ to those who are killed because they have gone to work wearing a uniform.'
"Although it’s now a decade since we lost her, there’s not a day goes by I don’t think of Nicola. Nothing will ever make up for her loss, but this award would bring a large degree of comfort to me and a great many others and is long overdue."
After losing his daughter, Bryn played a leading part in the successful campaign to establish the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, which commemorates the 5,000 Police Officers who have died in the line of duty over the years. He also runs the PC Nicola Hughes Memorial Fund, to help children whose parents have been murdered.
Police Federation deputy national secretary John Partington said: "It is only right we should honour fallen colleagues and support bereaved families. Police officers and other emergency service workers willingly run towards danger while others run away.
"The current awards system does not formally recognise emergency service workers who lose their lives while performing their duties, and all too often formal state recognition is not forthcoming. The proposed new medal would not just recognise outstanding individual acts of dedication to duty, it would also mean so much to family, friends and colleagues."
Paul Fotheringham, president of the Police Superintendents’ Association, added: "Back in 2019, we called for an extension to the award of the Elizabeth Cross to those police families whose loved ones have died in the execution of their duty, and we continue to support the need for this formal recognition.
"Police officers and other emergency service workers dedicate years of their lives to ensuring the safety of others, and sometimes this results in the most tragic of sacrifices when they lose their lives in the line of duty. It is right that our nation affords these people, and their families, the value they deserve through recognition of this kind."
A spokesman for the Prison Officers' Association said: "For too long prison officers have viewed themselves as the forgotten service. Now we have been recognised for the dangerous work we do. The POA are proud to support a campaign that will recognise workers who have to face life threatening situations at work. We represent a broad spectrum of brave workers who deserve to be considered for this award.
"I welcome POA members being included in the category to receive this award but pray I never have to apply for it on behalf of one of them.”
