- GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk
Essex lorry fugitive Chris Hughes wanted over deaths of 39 migrants spotted in home town sparking manhunt
ONE of two brothers wanted over the lorry container deaths of 39 migrants was spotted walking about in his hometown as a massive manhunt got underway.
Chris Hughes, 34, was seen in Monaghan, Ireland, as cops looked to close in on the truckers.
It also emerged second brother Ronan Hughes, 40, called police in the hours after the grim discovery, in Purfleet, Essex, in an apparent bid to discover how much officers knew.
A source told BelfastLive, Hughes told officers he knew arrested driver Maurice ‘Mo’ Robinson, 25, and “pushed to get a number of questions answered”.
The source added: ‘We believe he was trying to establish how much and what information the police had at that time.
MASSIVE MANHUNT
“He appeared willing to co-operate with police but he has not been contactable since.”
As the dragnet for the men was underway, locals told how Chris Hughes was spotted in Monaghan town, close to where his wife Anita has a successful hairdressing business.
One said: “He was with his wife in the town centre. It was about that time when his picture was being put out as a wanted man.”
Essex Police had said they believed both brothers are in Northern Ireland but it was yesterday (Weds) feared both had stepped outside UK jurisdiction into the Republic of Ireland.
Chris Hughes’ wife Anita was not at her hairdressing business, The Hair Lounge, in the town when we called on Wednesday.
A member of staff said she would pass her a message adding: “I don’t know when she’ll be back in.”
Ms Hughes and her husband live six miles away in the Swans Cross area.
Their home is just yards from her family’s engineering business.
Convicted cigarette smuggler Ronan Hughes is alleged to have driven the refrigerated trailer from its depot near the Irish border on October 15 after signing a lease document.
According to GPS data, it travelled through Wales and England, crossed the Channel to Calais, returned to Kent and then made a second crossing to travel through France and Belgium.
Police impounded a second cab – believed to be owned by Ronan Hughes – in Dublin on Saturday, which is suspected of having delivered the trailer with its doomed passengers to Zeebrugge.
MOST READ IN UK NEWS
Northern Irish driver Eamon Harrison, 23, who was arrested on unrelated matters was said to be “a person of interest” amid claims he has information on how the lorry reached Zeebrugge.
The bodies of eight women and 31 men were found in a refrigerated container in Grays, Essex, last week.
On Monday, a court heard that death truck driver Maurice “Mo” Robinson, 25, was allegedly part of a network specialising in sneaking illegal migrants into Britain.