Inside the unit hunting Manchester’s most dangerous fugitives

As he handed himself in to a Manchester police station, one-eyed killer Dale Cregan told them: “You were hounding my family so I took it out on yous. I’m wanted by the police and I’ve just done two coppers.”

The local drug dealer had spent weeks successfully evading capture as police hunted him over the gun and grenade murders of father and son David and Mark Short, whom he had killed in a row between feuding families in east Manchester.

But growing tired of the tactics from Greater Manchester Police, who repeatedly raided his family home and put a £50,000 bounty on his head as they launched the largest manhunt in their history, he decided to hit back and laid a trap.

PC Fiona Bone, 32, and PC Nicola Hughes, 23, were brutally murdered in September 2012 after they responded to a bogus 999 call from Cregan reporting a burglary, who told the handler: “I’ll be waiting.”

He shot the officers multiple times before detonating a fragmentation grenade on the women as they lay on the ground.

He was eventually handed a rare whole life order for murdering the father, son and two policewomen in a case that rocked policing and briefly reignited debate over whether officers should be routinely armed.

GMP’s leaders were also forced to defend the force from criticism for releasing Cregan on bail after he was first arrested for Mark Short’s murder and then adopting the tactic of repeatedly visiting his family while he was on the run.

It was in the wake of this scandal that the Force Critical Wanted Unit (FCWU) was born, with the sole purpose of catching dangerous criminals quickly and effectively.

Now the specialist team, one of only a handful of such units in the country, takes an average of one to three days to catch the city’s most high-risk fugitives by tracking their every movement.

“We deal with those most dangerous, hardest to find, riskiest offenders,” Detective Superintendent Joseph Harrop explained from inside the base in Ashton-under-Lyne, where he heads up the force’s activities to tackle serious and organised crime.

“It’s generally murders, firearms offences, or other offences where we think they’ve used a firearm, or likely to have access to firearms.”

Each day, GMP, the country’s second-largest police force, has hundreds of people it wants to track down, but only the most dangerous are looked at by the FCWU.

Once they have adopted a target, the team – made up of an inspector, two sergeants and around eight police staff – use what they describe as “reverse victimology” to build a profile of the suspect.

They then deploy a range of techniques, tracking their spending, phone activity and known contacts to find them and bring them into custody as rapidly as possible.

“It’s about understanding their footprint, who their associations are,” DS Harrop added. “What’s the financial footprint, what’s the social media presence? Who are the partners? Do they have multiple partners? We will try and exploit a weakness.”

Given the cases they take on are classed as offenders who pose a high risk to the public, this often calls for covert activity, and the team has access to 24/7 surveillance capabilities.

Inside an observation room, detectives watch monitors with multiple cameras trained on key locations linked to their targets.

Once a suspect has been located and their identity has been confirmed, the team may deploy to make an arrest – although often, this is led by firearms command.

Last year, the team made a record 114 arrests, with many wanted for murder or firearms offences.

Unit leader Detective Inspector James Coles, who was one of the first officers on the scene of the murder of PCs Bone and Hughes 12 years ago, describes the FCWU’s work as “the sharpest end of the sharpest sword in policing”.

He will run a manhunt from inside an operations room known as the “green room”, where surveillance teams, firearms command and other units will work together until a suspect is brought in.

“The reason for our success as a unit is not because we’re any better or worse than any other police operation, it’s that we do it a lot,” he told The Independent.

“By doing it a lot, we practice our techniques and tactics very well. We don’t have any magic tools that other forces don’t have; we just do the basics really, really well.

“Human beings have patterns of behaviour, and it’s interesting when you observe them with close scrutiny… we can kind of predict their behaviour. This is the most effective and most impressive team I have ever worked with.”

The unit’s members, who include an ex-marine among several with military experience, are experts in phone analysis and social media investigation and are trained in hostage negotiation and advanced driving.

The reactive nature of the work means team members can clock up to 70 or 100 hours of work on a busy week, as well as covering an on-call rota for kidnap cases.

“So every, every day, we get a summary of all the major incidents within GMP,” DI Coles added. “So I read them, deciding whether or not I’m going to be able to have dinner with my wife.”

After a 17-year-old was blasted with a shotgun in front of terrified mothers and their young children in Stretford in August 2023, the FCWU was deployed to find the gunman.

It took the unit less than 24 hours to track down suspect Ethan Deas, 18, after investigators found his father had paid for an Airbnb in Salford. The team began surveillance of the apartment block, and armed police were deployed when they spotted the teen going inside.

Deas, who was later jailed for 10 years for causing grievous bodily harm in the revenge shooting, tried to flee the 10th-floor flat by dropping down into a teenage girl’s 16th birthday party on the floor below but was captured by the team.

“It’s psychologically exhausting being on the run,” DI Coles said. “Anyone you have loved or cared about, we will exploit. Anything you might want or need – where do you get your money? Where do you collect your benefits?”

After Salah Eldin Adam, 21, was stabbed in the neck in Trafford in 2023, the team spent 16 days tracking Xaviour Wynter, who fled the scene of the attack along with Demari Rose.

Wynter was captured and brought to justice after the team realised he had started a new relationship with a girlfriend of three days and was later jailed for 13 years and eight months for manslaughter.

It took less than a day for the team to bring in Shiloh Pottinger after he stabbed university student Luke O’Connor, 19, eight times with a flick knife in a row on their way home from a party in Fallowfield in October 2022.

The team traced him after they realised he was ordering takeaway food to a bed and breakfast.

For DI Coles, the job comes with pressure, but the satisfaction of being able to focus the weight of the team on bringing in a suspect, rather than juggling multiple outstanding cases that could take months or even years to bring to a resolution.

He added: “I am given one job to do and it’s heavily pressurised and I am given all the resources and all the best people to deal with it.”

Single-sex spaces will be ‘more dangerous’ for women after ruling

Single-sex spaces for women will become more dangerous, not safer, after Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling, a transgender campaigner has warned.

Sitting down with The Independent, Jaxon Feeley said the landmark ruling that trans women are not legally women is impossible to enforce in practice.

The judgment, which states that the definition of a woman in equality law is based on biological sex, means trans women with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) can be excluded from single-sex spaces and has been billed as a victory for biological women.

But Mr Feeley warned that the emphasis on biological sex opens up a whole host of other issues for single-sex spaces, including that trans men will now be forced to use women’s spaces, including bathrooms and changing rooms.

Outlining the myriad difficulties in enforcing the policy, the campaigner – who transitioned from female to male while serving as a prison officer in the UK – said: “If I walk into a [women’s] toilet now and say: ‘Well, I was assigned female at birth’, people are not going to be happy about that. I feel like people are going to be quite intimidated by that.

“It not only obviously puts [biological women] in a difficult situation, but it also allows any [cisgender] man to walk into any so-called official single-sex space now and say, ‘Well, I was assigned female at birth.’ How are you policing that? You can’t police that.”

He added: “The frightening thing is the fact that you’ve not just made women’s spaces more dangerous for trans women, you’ve actually made spaces more dangerous for biological women because of that lack of understanding.”

Mr Feeley warned that Wednesday’s “shocking” judgment is likely to lead to an increase in hate crime and suicides among the trans community.

“As heartbreaking as it is, there’s going to be an increase in attacks, there’s going to be an increase in hate crime, there’s going to be an increase in suicide, because people feel they can’t do it, they just can’t transition. They can’t live in this world.”

It comes after jane fae, the director of trans campaign group TransActual, warned that the ruling will “exclude trans people wholesale from participating in UK society”. She said that society will “divide more sharply into queer-friendly and queer-hostile spaces” as a result of the ruling.

Mr Feeley claimed that Wednesday’s judgment gives “permission to those who already hate and discriminate”, warning that it will “increase and amplify the level of abuse and hate towards trans people and any woman who doesn’t look woman[ly] enough”.

He added that the ruling is “a step towards controlling women again”, explaining: “I think it’s a situation where you’re effectively looking at whether you look woman enough – ‘Do you look woman enough to come into this toilet?’”

On Thursday, Kishwer Falkner, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said access to single-sex facilities such as changing rooms “must be based on biological sex” in light of the ruling.

Asked how she would respond to trans people who are worried about not being able to use public loos or changing rooms as a result of the ruling, Baroness Falkner said they “should be using their powers of advocacy” to ask for “third spaces” that are not single-sex.

But Mr Feeley warned that any trans person using a so-called “third space” would be outing themselves as trans.

“It’s not OK to just out people. We don’t want to be visible in this world when the abuse is increasing. All people want to do is go for a wee. They just want to go to the toilet,” he said.

The TV personality also argued that “something has gone seriously wrong” if biological women think that “trans women are the biggest threat to them in today’s society”.

“If you ask a woman, would they rather be in a room full of 50 straight men or 50 drag queens or 50 trans women, I guarantee the answer is not going to be the straight men,” he said.

Mr Feeley added: “Trans people aren’t trying to erase anything or anyone. They’re not trying to erase language. They’re not trying to erase gender. They’re just asking for choice, asking for freedom, asking for healthcare, asking for acceptance.

“They’re asking for anything that a human has the right to ask for in today’s society. That’s it. They’re just people dealing with their own problems. We’re all human beings at the end of the day, before anything else; all human beings struggling with one thing or another.

“If women think that trans women are the biggest threat to them in today’s society, something has gone seriously wrong.”

In the wake of the verdict, the government reaffirmed its support for the “protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex”, with women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson saying the ruling brings “clarity and confidence, for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs”.

“Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this government,” she added.

Officials have since confirmed that the NHS is looking at updating its official guidance on same-sex wards to reflect the ruling, which currently says trans people “should be accommodated according to their presentation: the way they dress, and the name and pronouns they currently use”.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

Ronnie O’Sullivan: ‘I was scared to go near a snooker table and I’ve lost my bottle’

Ronnie O’Sullivan has admitted he was scared to approach a snooker table during his break from the game and fears he has lost his bottle, while also acknowledging that he could still pull out of the upcoming World Snooker Championship at short notice.

The World Championship begins in Sheffield on Saturday morning, although O’Sullivan’s first-round grudge match against Ali Carter doesn’t start until Tuesday afternoon.

The seven-time world champion hasn’t played in a tournament since snapping his cue in anger and walking out of the Championship League in January. He has pulled out of several events at short notice over the past 12 months, including the Masters at Alexandra Palace, to prioritise his mental health and wellbeing.

O’Sullivan has been open about his struggles, and there was real doubt about whether he would play at Sheffield or be absent for the first time in 33 years.

During an appearance at Friday’s media day at the Crucible Theatre, the 49-year-old was candid about his ongoing issues and, while suggesting he intends to play, didn’t rule out withdrawing at the last moment if he feels it’s necessary.

“Just getting here was a victory in itself,” said O’Sullivan. “Getting out there to play will be a victory in itself.

“It’s Friday now, I’m not playing until Tuesday, so if I have a meltdown, who knows, I might still bloody withdraw. I hope I don’t.”

O’Sullivan has had extended breaks from snooker before, even winning the World Championship in 2013 after a season of not playing in tournaments, but feels this time is different, given the fear he has felt and a worry that he has lost his edge.

“I’m used to dealing with pressurised situations and stuff like that. This feels a lot different,” explained O’Sullivan. “It feels like I’ve lost my nerve. Maybe lost my bottle. That makes it difficult to go out and play.

“Even when I went to Saudi Arabia to do the exhibition, I felt quite nervous just exposing myself to the scrutiny and judgement and stuff like that. That felt hard enough, let alone coming here [the Crucible] to try and play – there is no bigger test. I am surprised I am here, but I am here.

“This feels different because I was a bit scared to go near the table. I didn’t want to practice, I didn’t want to hit the ball. There were so many practice sessions that lasted like five minutes. Normally I do three or four hours a day, first 20 minutes are a bit ‘urgh’, then after that I think, ‘I am loving this’.

“I tried playing left-handed for a couple of months. I enjoyed it but I can’t compete left-handed against these guys. I tried a different bridge hand but I didn’t have any touch or feel. I ran out of ideas in the end. I felt a bit beaten by it and I don’t know what the future holds.”

Despite being a seven-time world champion – going for a record eighth title at the Crucible – and being widely regarded as the greatest snooker player of all time, O’Sullivan has spent a lot of his career playing down expectations of himself.

This year is no different, with “the Rocket” adamant that any sort of decent performance against Carter – with whom he has a rocky history that includes mid-match shoulder barges and wars of words over on-table behaviour – would be considered a win.

“I don’t have any expectations,” he insisted. “I’d just like to not feel all at sea out there. If I can just play and at least feel semi-competitive, I’d be happy with that.

“Could I win the whole thing? I doubt it. I’d be very happy to just give Ali a game, to be honest. I have to be realistic.

“I know I have a reputation and years of being successful and winning a lot of tournaments. A lot of people always think, ‘well, if you can do that, surely you can still do it.’ That’s probably difficult because you are always going to have that reputation, I suppose.

“But I am nearly 50 now and there a lot of young guys who are hungry and competing all the time. It’s a bit different to, say, 2012 or 2013. I feel like a bit of an old man clinging on. When you are a young man clinging on, it feels all right. But when you feel like an old man clinging on, it’s kind of different.

“I am going to try and push on through and put everything into it and try and manage whatever the sport throws at me.”

Pubs allowed to stay open later to mark VE Day 80th anniversary

Pub across the country will be ringing the last order bell a little later than usual on VE day, as closing time gets pushed back to 1am for the 80th anniversary.

The prime minister has given the green light for pubs and bars to stay open two extra hours on Thursday 8 May.

Sir Keir Starmer has called for the nation to unite in honour of the wartime generation as the UK marks 80 years since VE Day.

He said it was a moment to “remember the incredible sacrifices” made during the Second World War and to celebrate “the peace and freedom” they won.

Extending pub hours, he added, would give people the chance to “raise a glass to all of the men and women who served their country, both overseas and at home.”

Pub hours have been relaxed before for occasions of “exceptional national significance” such as the Euro 2024 final and King Charles’ coronation weekend..

Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said extending pub hours would give the industry a boost.

He said: “As someone with a strong family background in the armed forces, I know how vital it is to honour the legacy of those who served.

“VE Day is not only a moment of remembrance but also an opportunity for communities to come together.

“At such a challenging time for the hospitality sector, allowing businesses to extend their trading hours during these celebrations offers a much-needed boost while paying tribute to our shared history.”

VE Day commemorations will start on the May bank holiday on Monday 5 May.

The Cenotaph will be dressed in Union flags and there will be a military procession from Whitehall to Buckingham Palace and an RAF flypast over London.

On 8 May, there will be a party at Horse Guards Parade showed live on BBC One.

Why ‘Disagreeing Well’ Could Save Us All

You’re laughing with friends, perhaps enjoying a few drinks down the pub, when all of a sudden, one of those friends drops a clanger of a comment that hits you sideways. Maybe it’s political, maybe it’s personal, but whatever it is it’s a gut punch that lands in direct opposition to something you strongly believe in.

An awkward silence. Your jaw tightens. You scan their face for a trace of irony, but there’s none to be found. Now what?

In that moment, you have a choice. Do you launch into a rebuttal, flinging facts and stats like ninja stars, risking an evening of tension and raised voices? Or do you shut down, politely nod, change the subject, and leave the disagreement to fester quietly beneath the surface?

This moment, with all its visceral discomfort, is something we all recognise. The physical response to conflict is real: adrenaline surges, heart races, breath quickens. We’re wired for fight or flight, and difficult conversations trigger both instincts. Either we go to battle or we retreat.

And therein lies the problem: we’re losing the ability to do anything in between.

Nuance versus viral outrage

Social media supercharges this dynamic. Platforms supposedly designed to connect us can drive individuals further apart, with disagreement online becoming less about discussion and more about demolition. A 2021 study by the Pew Research Center found that 64% of people say social media has a mostly negative effect on how things are going in their country, with political division and misinformation topping the list of concerns. It’s a space where nuance is drowned out by viral outrage and where algorithmic echo chambers reinforce rather than challenge our views.

In this climate, it’s easy to point fingers; to blame “them” for being unreasonable, misinformed, or even dangerous. But the hard truth is, it’s not just them, it’s all of us. We’re all participants in this culture of binary thinking whether we realise it or not. And if we want things to change, we have to start by looking inward and recognising our own reflexes and assumptions, and then choosing to engage rather than to avoid.

The stakes are too high not to. We’re living through volatile, uncertain and complex times. From the cost-of-living crisis and global conflicts to the climate emergency and the rise of fake news, the challenges we face require cooperation, not competition. We need solutions, not slogans, and we sure won’t find those solutions by shouting past each other or retreating into ideological corners.

A fractured global landscape

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2025 paints a sobering picture of our current trajectory. Societal polarisation ranks as the fourth most severe risk over the next two years, closely tied to inequality, which holds the seventh spot. These fractures are not just social, they’re systemic, threatening to destabilise political and economic institutions worldwide.

What’s more, nearly one in four experts surveyed identified armed conflict as the most pressing global risk for 2025, surpassing concerns like extreme weather and economic instability. This escalation underscores how deeply divisions, be they ideological, political, or social, can erode the foundations of global cooperation.

Time to lean in

So what’s the answer? It all starts with accepting the discomfort of disagreement, asking better questions and listening with the aim of understanding rather than winning. That doesn’t mean compromising our values or avoiding difficult truths. It means being curious about how others see the world, recognising the humanity behind every opinion, and searching for common ground, however small. It means moving forward together, even – maybe especially – when we don’t see eye to eye.

This isn’t a new idea, of course. More than 2,000 years ago, Socrates was already showing us how it’s done. He understood that disagreement “done well” was essential to the pursuit of truth. His method of asking questions, challenging assumptions and encouraging others to do the same, wasn’t about scoring points. It was about progress, growth and building something better through conversation. Although we’ll never know how long old Socrates might have lasted on X before begging Zeus to lightning bolt the lot of us…

The spirit of open, critical dialogue has long been associated with universities. They are, in many ways, the heirs to Socrates’ legacy; spaces where ideas are tested, where disagreement is part of the learning process, and where diverse perspectives are meant to coexist in meaningful tension.

In today’s climate, that ideal is being tested. Protests, polarisation, and real concerns about safety, speech, and belonging have created complex and often painful challenges on campuses around the world. But in spite of these difficulties, and in many ways, because of them, universities remain among the best places we have to model what it means to disagree well: to be rigorous but respectful, passionate but principled, open but discerning.

They remind us that the goal isn’t to be right all the time, but to get it right eventually. It’s a process, and it requires courage, humility, and a willingness to sit across from someone who sees the world differently and still choose to talk.

Moving forward together

And that’s what we need more of right now. Not more dead certainty, outrage, or noise, but more conversation. Messy, thoughtful, honest conversation, whether it’s in the pub with friends, across the seminar hall or being represented on our screens and streets.

Disagreeing well isn’t about who wins, it’s about how we move forward together. In an age defined by division, the ability to sit with difference, to challenge without contempt, and to talk without tearing down isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s essential. “Why disagreeing well could save us all” isn’t hyperbole or just a catchy headline; it’s a quiet truth hiding in plain sight.

Civil debate – honest, open, and grounded in respect – might just be one of the most powerful tools we have. The question is: are we ready to use it?

Four-foot-long caiman seized in police search of Essex home

A four-foot-long caiman has been seized by police in a search of a home in Essex as two people were arrested on suspicion of drugs and weapons offences.

The animal, which has now been handed over to the RSPCA, was among the items found by officers executing a warrant at an address in Aveley near Grays on Thursday.

A significant cannabis haul and several weapons including knives were also discovered and seized.

A 36-year-old man, from Purfleet, was arrested on suspicion of production of cannabis, contravention of the dangerous wildlife act and possession of an offensive weapon, while a 35-year-old woman was arrested for the same offences as well as on suspicion of possession with intent to supply drugs, Essex Police said.

Both have since been released under investigation.

Inspector Dan Selby said: “Drugs cause misery in our communities and we work hard to tackle their production and sale.

“We know this matters to the public and we value our neighbourhoods so these issues matter to us.

“We are also ensuring the welfare of the caiman and have left it in the hands of the RSPCA.”

Caimans live in marshes, swamps, lakes, and mangrove rivers. The animals are native to Central and South America.

British man, 27, dies in avalanche at ski resort in French Alps

A 27-year-old British man has died after being buried in an avalanche at a ski resort in the French Alps, local government officials have said.

The avalanche occurred at Val Thorens ski resort, in the Savoie region of south-west France, shortly after 10am on Thursday, local prosecutor Benoît Bachelet said in a statement.

The man, who had been lying at the side of the road, was buried in the snow and carried about 15 metres by its force, the prosecutor said.

Nearby police officers were alerted to the incident by a witness, and pulled the man, who had entered cardiac arrest, out of the snow and provided first aid.

He was taken to hospital in Grenoble, in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region, where he later died that evening, Mr Bachelet said.

An investigation into the incident has been opened by the regional prosecutor’s office.

The victim’s family are being supported by local services, the prosecutor said.

A Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who died in France and are in contact with the local authorities.”