Dale Cregan admitted to maximum-security Ashworth Hospital

Cregan, serving four life sentences, joins Moors Murderer Ian Brady at the mental hospital

Dale Cregan is set to die in prison with a whole life sentence for murdering four people (PA)

One-eyed police killer Dale Cregan has been admitted to maximum-security Ashworth Hospital because of his behaviour.

Cregan, 30, is now in the secure mental hospital, where Moors Murderer Ian Brady is serving his sentence, after being moved from Strangeways jail in Manchester.

The father of one was put in the hospital wing at the jail before his transfer yesterday after refusing food.

It had been thought Cregan, serving four life sentences, would be moved to HMP Full Sutton near York, after his trial in June.

But he remained at HMP Manchester while co-defendants were sent to the Yorkshire jail.

Cregan has been kept segregated from other prisoners for fear of reprisals.

He was jailed for life at Preston Crown Court for the ruthless murders of two unarmed policewomen and a father and son. The gangster, who had had served only minimal time in jail before, was told he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

But a police source said his behaviour has now meant he is to be held at Ashworth.

“His head has gone,” the source said.

“He can't take it any more, he's not cocky any more, what a difference in attitude.

“He had not been eating and was in healthcare in prison. He was just lying on his bed 24/7, doesn't talk to staff.

“He's not eaten for four weeks, he's gone in the head.”

Ashworth Hospital, near Maghull on Merseyside, houses prisoners deemed to be criminally insane.

Cregan lured Pcs Nicola Hughes, 23, and Fiona Bone, 32, to their deaths in a horrifying gun and grenade attack on September 18 last year.

He had gone on the run days before, killing David Short, 46, last August after gunning down his son Mark, 23, at the Cotton Tree Pub in Droylsden three months earlier.

The manhunt reached a conclusion when Cregan ambushed the constables following a bogus 999 call to a house in Abbey Gardens in Hattersley, Greater Manchester.

He was given a whole life sentence at Preston Crown Court in June.

PA