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Dale Cregan's costly security was a high-speed farce Dale Cregan's costly security was a high-speed farce
(4 months later)
A row over the security costs of the Dale Cregan trial has broken out between Greater Manchester police and the National Offender Management Service, with the police and crime commissioner, Tony Lloyd, backing the police.A row over the security costs of the Dale Cregan trial has broken out between Greater Manchester police and the National Offender Management Service, with the police and crime commissioner, Tony Lloyd, backing the police.
The cost of ferrying him and his co-defendants on the daily round trip between Strangeways prison in central Manchester and Preston crown court was £5m. Three prison vans, travelling at high speed and escorted by four or five police cars and a police helicopter, carried him on the daily, 70-mile round trip. Other "dummy" prison vans set off as decoys each day. (The vans were involved in at least three accidents during the trial process, due to the high speed and the vans' closeness to each other to stop vehicles coming in between them.)The cost of ferrying him and his co-defendants on the daily round trip between Strangeways prison in central Manchester and Preston crown court was £5m. Three prison vans, travelling at high speed and escorted by four or five police cars and a police helicopter, carried him on the daily, 70-mile round trip. Other "dummy" prison vans set off as decoys each day. (The vans were involved in at least three accidents during the trial process, due to the high speed and the vans' closeness to each other to stop vehicles coming in between them.)
More than 150 armed police officers and scores of private security guards (employed by the ubiquitous G4S) were involved every day.More than 150 armed police officers and scores of private security guards (employed by the ubiquitous G4S) were involved every day.
The police say they asked the National Offender Management Service to reclassify Preston prison as a high-security jail to hold the defendants during the trial. They refused, saying it would be too difficult and costly. But why was such a high level of security needed in the first place?The police say they asked the National Offender Management Service to reclassify Preston prison as a high-security jail to hold the defendants during the trial. They refused, saying it would be too difficult and costly. But why was such a high level of security needed in the first place?
Despite the enormity of his crimes, Cregan was a small-time criminal, not a member of an organised crime gang or terrorist, and the notion of him being "sprung" from custody is ludicrous. Nobody knew that more than Manchester's police. All their intelligence on Cregan would have shown this, but the high-speed farce was played out in public throughout the 19-week trial.Despite the enormity of his crimes, Cregan was a small-time criminal, not a member of an organised crime gang or terrorist, and the notion of him being "sprung" from custody is ludicrous. Nobody knew that more than Manchester's police. All their intelligence on Cregan would have shown this, but the high-speed farce was played out in public throughout the 19-week trial.
This is not new; the police have always over-egged the security pudding in high-profile criminal trials. It is a ploy designed to influence juries – "look at all the armed officers needed to guard this defendant. He must be dangerous, therefore must be guilty."This is not new; the police have always over-egged the security pudding in high-profile criminal trials. It is a ploy designed to influence juries – "look at all the armed officers needed to guard this defendant. He must be dangerous, therefore must be guilty."
This is not just my view: a former high-ranking officer in the Metropolitan police, who had responsibility for escorting high-risk prisoners, says he tried to reduce the numbers involved in these convoys and that "the police love to overdo these things".This is not just my view: a former high-ranking officer in the Metropolitan police, who had responsibility for escorting high-risk prisoners, says he tried to reduce the numbers involved in these convoys and that "the police love to overdo these things".
And in terms of influencing the Cregan jury, the police surely overplayed their hand. It was not necessary to convince them that Cregan was dangerous and guilty; he was on camera in one of his gun and grenade attacks and was filmed walking into a police station and admitting that he had killed the two police officers. In effect, that was the moment he started to serve his whole-life sentence. There was no need for the costly security showboating.And in terms of influencing the Cregan jury, the police surely overplayed their hand. It was not necessary to convince them that Cregan was dangerous and guilty; he was on camera in one of his gun and grenade attacks and was filmed walking into a police station and admitting that he had killed the two police officers. In effect, that was the moment he started to serve his whole-life sentence. There was no need for the costly security showboating.
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