A man who was taken by a gang of vigilantes convinced he had committed a heinous crime and murdered is the new subject of a new TV series.
Christopher Hughes pleaded desperately for his life as he was driven to his death after the gang spent 24 hours tracking him down before launching their brutal attack.
Christopher, a young father and former boxer from Wigan, was abducted in broad daylight on February 18, 2022. The gang forced him into the boot of an Audi A4 on a housing estate before taking him to a remote country road near Skelmersdale, Lancashire, reports MEN.
There, they stabbed him 90 times in a gruesome act of mistaken retribution. His mutilated body, left exposed to snow and rain, was discovered by a dog walker four days later.
The horrific murder is the subject of Manhunt, a three-part Channel 4 documentary. The series follows Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Crime and Specialist Operations teams as they investigate Christopher’s murder and another case.
Christopher, 37, was abducted after a member of the public witnessed him being forced into the car. Eight men are now serving life sentences for his murder, which stemmed from the gang’s misguided belief that he had raped a teenage girl at knifepoint. DNA evidence later confirmed Christopher’s innocence, but his pleas went unheard.
The attack was meticulously brutal. Two knives, including a machete, were used to inflict wounds to his head, neck, body, and limbs. Injuries to his scrotum and anus were also found, suggesting sadistic violence. Most of the injuries were sustained while Christopher was still alive.
The plot to kill him began the evening before his death, when the gang, all connected by family, work, or social ties, decided to take justice into their own hands. Roaming Wigan for hours, they stormed Christopher’s home but did not find him. The search resumed the next day, and he was cornered on Almond Grove at 4:30 PM.
A witness to the abduction was threatened by one of the gang members, Erland Spahiu, who warned him to “keep your f***ing mouth shut, or you’re next.” As Christopher was driven to his death, he desperately asked, “What have I done wrong?”
On White Moss Road South, Christopher was savagely attacked and left on a grassy embankment. Later that evening, the gang attempted to bury his body but were interrupted by police investigating a nearby traffic accident.
The killers tried to cover their tracks by destroying CCTV, changing phones, deleting messages, and dismantling the Audi used in the abduction. However, police recovered critical evidence, including blood matching Christopher’s DNA from the car.
After a trial at Liverpool Crown Court, the following sentences were handed down:
- Erland Spahiu, 35 years for murder, 12 for kidnap (concurrent)
- Curtis Balbas, 34 years for murder, 9 for kidnap
- Martin Smith, 33 years for murder, 12 for kidnap
- Razgar Khader Mohammed, 27 years for murder, 12 for kidnap
- Alan Jaf, 26 years for murder, 12 for kidnap
- Khalil Awla, 26 years for murder, 12 for kidnap
- Dean Smeaton O’Neill-Davey, 25 years for murder, 12 for kidnap
- Erion Voja, 23 years for murder, 10 for kidnap
A ninth man, Andrius Uzkuraitis, received six years for assisting an offender.
Many of the defendants shared close connections: Jaf, Awla, and Mohammed were brothers-in-law to Balbas. Jaf and Awla co-owned M6 Motors, while Mohammed ran Star Autos. Voja was flown out of the UK on one-way tickets to Istanbul and Kosovo by Spahiu.
Despite their attempts to erase evidence, extensive police work uncovered the defendants’ roles in the murder.
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