Another name will be included on a planned memorial as the fifth Manx officer to have been killed in the line of duty.

Sergeant Jack Cretney was killed in the Winter Hill air crash of February 27, 1958 while he was travelling on police business.

This week’s Isle of Man Examiner (April 19) reported on the planning application (22/00303/B) for a five-foot tall black headstone to be installed on a plinth by the flagpole at Police Headquarters in Douglas.

However, the older draft image provided with the application only included the names of four officers, so it was initially understood that these were the only ones to have died in the line of duty in the force’s history.

These were:

l PC Denis Hamer, who was struck by a racer’s motorcycle whilst on marshalling duties at the 1976 Manx Grand Prix.

(A memorial plaque was unveiled earlier this year at Union Mills Methodist Chapel, near the site of his death.)

l PC Gordon Black, who in 1966 was killed in a crash whilst on motorcycle patrol at South Cape, Laxey.

l Officers John Craig and John Wright, who died in the 1852 Kitterland explosion off the coast of the Calf of Man.

(They had been guarding the cargo of the foundered Brig Lily, when the gunpowder on board detonated in a massive explosion.)

As for the Winter Hill disaster, which occurred in Lancashire, it was the deadliest high ground air accident in UK history and claimed the lives of 35 Manx residents.

They mainly consisted of car industry members who were on a trade trip to visit the Exide battery factory in Manchester.

It is anecdotally understood that Sgt Cretney was travelling along with the purpose of discussing the needs of the Isle of Man Constabulary’s vehicle fleet.