Who was Christopher Hughes? Man falsely accused of sexual crime murdered by eight men
CHANNEL 4 has a gripping new series that takes you right into the action with specialist police teams tackling high-stakes manhunts.
The clock starts ticking when Christopher Hughes is spotted being forced into a car—then disappearing without a trace. Here’s what we know about him.
Who was Christopher Hughes?
Christopher Hughes’ tragic story begins when the 37-year-old was found dead on February 22, 2022 near a road in Skelmersdale, Lancashire.
He had been wrongly accused of the knifepoint rape of a teenage girl earlier that year.
He was brutally stabbed more than 90 times after being snatched off the street and forced into the boot of a car.
Greater Manchester Police revealed that DNA evidence from the sexual offence investigation did not match Christopher, but the men behind this horrific act “took the law into their own hands.”
According to police, the group, who “all knew each other or were related,” began searching Wigan on February 17, 2022.
They even broke into Christopher’s home before their hunt “continued the following day until Christopher was abducted in broad daylight.”
Christopher was spotted in Wigan’s Almond Grove on February 18, 2022 where Curtis Balbas and Erland Spahiu forced him into a car boot.
He was then driven at high speed to White Moss Road South in Skelmersdale, where he was “brutally attacked and killed in act of retribution.”
Prosecutor John Elvidge KC said that on the evening of the killing, Dean O’Neill Davey, Andrius Uzkuraitis, Spahiu, and his visiting cousin, Erion Voja, attempted to hide Christopher’s body.
They tried to bury him on wasteland but were interrupted by police investigating a nearby road traffic accident.
In their efforts to cover their tracks, the gang destroyed CCTV, changed phones, deleted messages, and disposed of the car used in the abduction.
Unable to complete the burial, they abandoned his body, which was discovered four days later at the foot of an embankment by a dog walker.
What happened to Christopher Hughes’s killers?
In February 2023, the eight members of a vigilante gang received life sentences for their roles in the abduction and brutal murder of Christopher.
Together, their minimum sentences added up to a massive total of 229 years.
During sentencing, Mr Justice Wall described the crime as “brutal and, in part, sadistic,” highlighting the victim’s suffering from at least 90 stab and slash wounds.
Addressing the defendants, he said, “It was a murder which was designed to obstruct or interfere with the course of justice. The starting point for sentence is therefore 30 years.”
The judge made it clear that he believed three of the men—Curtis Balbas, Erland Spahiu, and Martin Smith—intended for Christopher to die.
What they did in February last year was nothing short of atrocious.
Detective Inspector Heidi Cullum
Balbas, 30, a Kurdish Iraqi from Matheson Drive, Worsley Hall, was ordered to serve a minimum of 34 years.
Spahiu, an Albanian, was sentenced to 35 years, while 34-year-old Smith, from Greenwood Avenue, was given 33 years.
Balbas had pleaded guilty to both kidnap and murder, while the others were convicted after a trial.
The remaining five defendants were sentenced on the basis that they intended to cause grievous bodily harm.
Alan Jaf, 52, of Ridyard Street, and Khalil Awla, 48, of Greenwood Avenue, were both handed minimum terms of 26 years.
They had owned and run M6 Motors in Wigan, where the Audi used in the crime was taken and destroyed.
Both men were married to sisters of Balbas.
Razgar Mohammed, 40, of Plane Avenue, received 27 years.
O’Neill-Davey, 30, of Conrad Close, faces at least 25 years in prison, while 21-year-old Erion Voja, from Peall Road, Croydon, was sentenced to a minimum of 23 years.
Another defendant, 27-year-old Lithuanian Andrius Uzkuraitis, of Holly Road, Worsley Hall, was cleared of murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm but was convicted of assisting an offender.
He was sentenced to six years.
Detective Inspector Heidi Cullum from GMP’s Major Incident Team condemned the gang’s actions, saying, “What they did in February last year was nothing short of atrocious.
“We only hope the verdict and sentences brings some justice and comfort to his family and friends.”
Christopher’s family also added their own tribute. They said: “We would like to thank sincerely the officers of Greater Manchester Police and the North West Crown Prosecution Service for their hard work on this case over the past number of months.
“We are pleased that justice has finally been done.
“It will not bring Christopher back, but he will live on in our hearts forever and the memories of him we will hold dearly.”
How to watch Manhunt?
In Manhunt, DI Justin Bryant and his team pull out all the stops, piecing together CCTV footage, sending officers across the city, and following every lead in a frantic race to find Christopher.
The clock starts ticking when Greater Manchester Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Group gets a chilling 999 call.
A concerned citizen reports seeing a man being forced into a car in Wigan, setting off a desperate search.
Manhunt begins Tuesday, January 14 at 9pm on Channel 4.