The nephew of cop killer Dale Cregan’s cocaine dealer is sentenced to three years in prison

The nephew of one-eyed double cop killer Dale Cregan has been sentenced to three years in prison after he unsuccessfully claimed his uncle’s reputation led him to deal drugs.

Self-proclaimed ‘bad guy’ Oscar Cregan, 20, helped set up a cocaine business in Manchester after returning to the UK from a stay in Spain with his family.

Arrested during a search in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester last March, he was in possession of two Nokia burner phones used to traffic cocaine and morphine.

While being held, he was caught scratching the words ‘f**k Greater Manchester Police’ and ‘Oscar Cregan is a bad man’ on a door in the training ground of Forest Bank prison in Salford.

The troubled boy had also stolen a £5,000 Rolex watch from a pawn shop.

Last Thursday, Cregan was sentenced to three years in prison for supplying class A and C drugs, criminal damage and theft.

In September 2012, Cregan’s Uncle Dale lured unarmed PCs Hughes and Bone to a property with a hoax 999 call and when they arrived he shot both women at least eight times before throwing a grenade at them.

Cregan, who was already on the run for the murders of David, 46, and Mark Short, 23, at the time of the murders, is now serving a life sentence behind bars.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester Oscar, the youngest son of Dale Cregan’s sister Kelly, tried to blame his crimes on living in the shadow of his uncle, now 39, who is currently serving four life sentences for the gun-related charges. and grenade murders of WPC’s Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes plus a father and son during a 2012 murderous rampage.

However, a judge rejected his pleas and jailed him for three years, saying there are “many people in similar circumstances who lead lives that abide by the law.”

Oscar had fled to Malaga in 2015 with Kelly, older brother Oli, now 22, and his twin sisters Annie and Alice after cocaine dealer Dale was convicted of murder.

At the time, Kelly said the family feared revenge attacks from associates of gangland rivals Mark and David Short after another family member threatened over the phone that acid would be thrown in her face.

Mark Short, 23, was shot dead by Dale in a pub in Droylsden, east Manchester, playing pool, while his father, 46, was shot and finished off with a grenade at his home in nearby Clayton.

Kelly had to find news schools for Oscar and his siblings in Spain while in hiding on the Costa Del Sol. They are believed to have returned to Britain in 2018.

Stuart Neale, Prosecutor said: ‘On 9 November 2021, the Defendant and another unknown person entered a pawnshop in Manchester. The pair went to the counter and asked the shop assistant if they could try on a £5,000 Rolex that was behind a glass display case.

When the assistant handed the couple the watch, they paused and ran out of the store onto the street. The pair were captured on CCTV and their description was established and passed on to Greater Manchester Police.

On March 15, 2022, the suspect was approached by two PCs who found that he matched the description and was arrested and searched. The officers found £320 in cash and two Nokia burner phones on him.

He was arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs and later analysis of the two phones revealed text messages indicative of the defendant’s involvement in the supply of drugs. These reports revealed that the defendant had been running a local drug ring for the past three months.

The reports indicated that he was involved in the supply of class A drugs, including cocaine and morphine. However, he was not found with drugs on him. While being held at HMP Forest Bank, a prison officer noted that the defendant was standing apart from other inmates on the training ground.

He stood with one hand up and when told to turn around, the officer noticed that the defendant had scratched graffiti on a door that read ‘f**k Greater Manchester Police’ and ‘Oscar Cregan is a bad guy’ . The cost of the damage to the door is estimated at £595.’

Cregan, who had one previous referral warrant for cannabis possession in 2018, admitted criminal damage, theft and intent to supply drugs.

Cregan’s attorney, Daniel Calder, mitigatingly stated that Oscar’s backstory regarding his uncle Dale Cregan “has caused a lot of trauma and disruption to the entire family.”

He said: ‘Has been particularly affected by the burdens and barriers this has brought. He even had to move to Spain for several years in an attempt to salvage his education.

His actions are all a product of the uniquely challenging circumstances in which he grew up. He maintained steady employment throughout his life, mainly as a laborer, but he fell into the familiar pattern of debt dependence that often leads to drug trafficking as a way to pay off these debts.”

At sentencing, Judge Mark Savill said, “The defendant is a young man born into circumstances, not his own, but there are many people who have been in similar circumstances and yet lived law-abiding lives.

He told Oscar, “Even though you were 18 at the time of the transgressions, that age is not an abyss and at that point you were well over the threshold and quite mature.

“It’s hard for me to accept that you and your accomplice entered the pawnshop that day for any real reason other than to steal. Especially when you consider that the watch you stole was worth £5,000.

“Although you were not found with any drugs on your body during the search, it was clear that you were operating a drug supply ring for serious Class A drugs. However, I believe that there were higher forces in your actions that make your involvement play a minor role.’