The mother of police killer Dale Cregan has been cleared of aiding and abetting misconduct in public office, while her son went on his killing rampage.
Anita Cregan, of Sutton Drive, Droylsden, was cleared of any wrongdoing by a jury at Manchester Crown Court after being accused of trying to obtain secret information in relation to her son.
At the time of the alleged offense, Dale Cregan was wanted in connection with the murders of father and son David and Mark Short, who were killed in May 2012.
It was suspected that Mrs Cregan, 56, had attempted to gather information from Greater Manchester Police call handler Kathryn Smith, 25 and ex-boyfriend Sean Booth, 31, who was a childhood friend of Cregan’s.
It was also alleged that Ms Smith provided information from a police computer system to her former lover who lived on the same street as Miss Cregan.
Ms Smith, also of Sutton Drive, and Kathryn Smith, of Condor Close, Droylsden, denied a single count of misconduct in a public office, and were also found not guilty.
Dale Cregan, 30, of Droylsden, is currently serving a whole life for the double killing of police officers Nicola Hughes, 23, and Fiona Bone, 32, as well as the Short murders.
Cregan, who was 29 at the time, made a hoax phone call to police before shooting the officers dead upon arrival.
He later handed himself into police, and was convicted in June 2013 of four murders and three attempted murders and sentenced to life in prison.
