Police killer Dale Cregan 'is moved out of jail to a secure psychiatric hospital where he previously bragged of "living a cushy life"'

Police killer Dale Cregan has reportedly been moved from a top security prison to a secure psychiatric hospital where he once bragged he lived a 'cushy' life.

Cregan, 37, was recently transported under armed guard from Full Sutton in York to the notorious Ashworth Hospital in Merseyside, the Mirror reported.

He was previously moved to the high-security psychiatric hospital in 2015, from where he wrote letters to a friend about his luxury life behind bars.

In a number of letters sent by the one-eyed drug dealer he described his cushy life at the facility - which was likened to a 'holiday camp' by one insider. 

He described how he had lost weight by regularly working out at the hospital gym, played tennis and snooker, cooked pizza - although he is banned from using knives - and even enjoyed kayaking sessions in the swimming pool.

Police killer Dale Cregan has reportedly been moved from a top security prison to a secure psychiatric hospital

In a letter sent in 2016, Cregan wrote: 'I'm good bro just smashing the gym and playing snooker you know how it goes.

'Been doin pure circuits on the ward. You know you got your a*** kicked at snooker and tennis you had me at the kayaking tho bro (ha ha).

'I just train hard and come back to the ward and either do a bit on the ward or just chill in my room. 

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Cregan was told he would die in prison when he was jailed for life without parole for shooting police officers Fiona Bone (left) and Nicola Hughes (right) in 2012

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He was previously moved to the high-security psychiatric hospital in 2015, from where he wrote letters to a friend about his luxury life behind bars. Pictured: A letter sent in 2016

'It's not ideal but it beats sitting on the block miles from home innit bro. Gym, phone call and a visit and I'm happy brother.'

Cregan, who lost an eye in a brawl years ago, was told he would die in prison when he was jailed for life without parole for shooting police officers Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes in 2012.

He was already on the run for the murders of David Short, 46, and son Mark, 23, when he killed the two policewomen after luring them to a house with a fake 999 call before shooting them 32 times on the doorstep and then throwing a grenade at them. 

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An insider claimed his reported return to Ashworth was the result of Cregan 'playing the game' to get away from Category A Full Sutton

The killer was jailed in 2013 and initially sent to Strangeways in Manchester, but following a psychiatric assessment prison bosses decided to send him to Ashworth.  

In 2018, he was declared sane and moved back to Manchester and then to Full Sutton in North Yorkshire.  

An insider claimed his reported return to Ashworth was the result of Cregan 'playing the game' to get away from Category A Full Sutton. 

Two independent psychiatrists would have had to support the claim he needs specialist care for a move to the high-security psychiatric hospital to be made.

THE ONE-EYED POLICE KILLER 

One-eyed Dale Cregan is currently serving a life sentence for brutally killing four people, including two policewomen, in 2012 with guns and grenades.

Cregan's killing spree started when he murdered amateur boxer Mark Short, 23, at a pub in Droylsden, Manchester, in April.

Three other people, believed to be related to the victim, were also wounded, suffering leg and back injuries.

Four months later Mark Short's father David was killed in a gun attack in Clayton, Manchester. Mr Short had branded his son's murderers 'cowards'.

Nine minutes after the incident, police received reports that shots had been fired at a second property in Droylsden, where there was also a grenade blast. Nobody was injured in the incident.

Detectives said they wanted to speak to Cregan, who they had released in May after linking him to the first murder but did not have the evidence to charge him.

In September that year the killer used a fake 999 call to lure officers Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes to a house.

When they arrived, Cregan shot them and threw an M75 grenade at them. Both officers were hit by at least eight bullets as Cregan fired 32 shots in 31 seconds.

He later handed himself in at a police station, admitting to killing the unarmed women.

The gangster admitted the attempted murder of three others in a high profile court case the following year.

During his four-month trial, which began in February 2013, Cregan was detained at Manchester Prison.

The trial was held at Preston Crown Court, where scaffolding was erected to accommodate armed officers.

Police snipers watched over the building from nearby offices and the daily convoy, carrying Cregan between Manchester and Preston, included two prison vans, police cars, motorcycle outriders and a helicopter.

In total 120 Greater Manchester Police officers were deployed daily and the total cost of the trial was estimated to be in excess of £5 million.

Cregan was convicted of all four murders and three attempted murders and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order on June 13, 2013.

He was told he would never see release after admitting to the killings which prompted public outcry and an outpouring of sympathy for the police.

His accomplice, Anthony Wilkinson, was jailed for a minimum of 35 years for his part in the gun and grenade murder of David Short.

In April 2015 he was temporarily moved to the high-security psychiatric unit Ashworth Hospital in Merseyside after going on hunger strike for a second time.

He was said to have started refusing food at the Category A jail HMP Manchester, formerly known as Strangeways, after being moved to solitary confinement.