New Year Honours 2023: Murdered PC would be proud of my MBE, says dad

The father of murdered PC Nicola Hughes said she would be "proud" of his MBE for his work with young people who have suffered loss due to violent crime.

Bryn Hughes's daughter and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) colleague PC Fiona Bone were killed in a gun and grenade attack in 2012 while on duty.

Mr Hughes said the King's New Year Honour was "poignant" as it was "because of what happened to Nicola".

Elsewhere, Prof Louis Appleby is made a knight for his suicide prevention work.

The professor of psychiatry at the University of Manchester and chair of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group is recoginsed for his services to medicine and mental health.

Other recipients include a 100-year-old school reading volunteer from Macclesfield who has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM).

Peter Davies, who works at Dean Valley Community Primary School, is the oldest person to be recognised in the honours list this year.

Mr Hughes, of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, set up the PC Nicola Hughes Memorial Fund in 2014 to help young people under the age of 21 who have lost a close family member through a violent crime such as murder or manslaughter.

He said the MBE was "quite a surprise" but "poignant" 10 years on since his 23-year-old daughter's murder.

"It's tinged with that bit of sadness as well because the only reason I've been nominated and been given the award was because of what happened to Nicola and the work I've done since then."

Asked what she would think of his achievement, he said: "She would be very proud."

However, he said she would laugh about it, too.

"She shared my sense of humour so she'd make some fun of it."

Mr Hughes said helping children after the loss of a parent or seeing messages from teenagers thanking him for Christmas gift tokens "means the world to me".

He vowed to continue to raise money and awareness in his daughter's name in 2023, as well as run another five marathons.

Asrar Ul-Haq, from Rochdale, was one of the first Asian police officers at GMP.

He spent his career in policing building positive relationships between marginalised communities and law enforcement.

He has been made an OBE, while Jim Jones has been awarded a BEM for his work with military veterans.

Lioness Lucy Bronze, who is based in Manchester, has been appointed an MBE following England's Euro 2022 win.

Charles Banks, chair of the North West Wheelchair Users Group and secretary of the Manchester United Disabled Supporters' Association, also becomes an MBE.

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