These are the faces of the eight men who have been locked up following the brutal murder of Wigan dad Christopher Hughes.
Mr Hughes' mutilated body was discovered on a country road on the outskirts of Skelmersdale by a dogwalker after he was bundled into the back of an Audi by and viciously attacked. The 37-year-old suffered nearly 100 separate injuries, having been hunted down by a vigilante gang who wrongly believed the dad had raped a teenager.
Eight men were convicted over the kidnap and murder of Mr Hughes following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court. A ninth man was convicted of assisting an offender and jailed for six years.
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Today (February 9), they were all jailed as a judge described the killing as Mr Hughes as 'brutal and sadistic'. Greater Manchester Police released mugshots of all nine men following the sentencing.
Their sentences in full can be found below:
- Erland Spahiu (13/10/1988) of White Moss Road, Skelmersdale - jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years for murder, 12 years for kidnap to run concurrently
- Curtis Balbas (01/01/1992) of Matheson Drive, Wigan - life with a minimum term of 34 years for murder, 9 years for kidnap to run concurrently
- Martin Smith (02/05/1988) of Laithwaite Road, Wigan - life with a minimum term of 33 years for murder, 12 years for kidnap to run concurrently
- Razgar Khader Mohammed (01/01/1982) of Plane Avenue, Wigan - life with a minimum term 27 years for murder, 12 years for kidnap to run concurrently
- Alan Jaf (01/09/1970) of Ridyard Street, Wigan - life with a minimum term of 26 years for murder, 12 years for kidnap to run concurrently
- Khalil Awla (01/01/1974) of Greenwood, Wigan - life with a minimum term of 26 years for murder, 12 years for kidnap to run concurrently
- Dean Smeaton O’Neill-Davey (12/08/1992) of Bulteel Street, Wigan - life with a minimum term 25 years for murder, 12 years for kidnap to run concurrently
- Erion Voja (18/08/2001) of Peall Road, Croydon - life with a minimum term of 23 years for murder, 10 Years for kidnap to run concurrently
- Andrius Uzkuraitis (12/04/1995) of Holly Road, Wigan, was convicted of assisting an offender and jailed for six years.
Mr Hughes had been snatched off Almond Street, Wigan, in broad daylight 'in a slick move' and bundled into the boot of a blue Audi A4 on February 18 last year following a determined 24-hour manhunt for him by the gang, said John Elvidge, KC, prosecuting. Balbas, 30, of Matheson Drive, Worsley Hall, Wigan, was accompanied by Erland Spahiu, an Albanian, who worked with him enforcing vehicle re-possessions with the threats of violence.
They drove their helpless victim, who was desperately asking from the boot, ‘What have I done wrong?’ to an isolated country road in Skelmersdale, Lancs. A man who witnessed the kidnapping had been warned by Spahiu, “keep your f...ing mouth shut, or you’re next”.
Mr Hughes was taken from the boot on arrival at White Moss Road South, near the M58, and horrifically subjected to “a tortuous attack” with two knives including a machete. In the vicious and sadistic assault, the two men hacked him to death, inflicting at least 90 sharp wounds to his head, body and limbs including injuries to his scrotum and anus, having lowered his clothing.
They then left his mutilated body at the scene on a grassy embankment, abandoned to the winter elements, where he was found by a dog walker four days later. On the evening after the killing, 34-year-old Spahiu, who lives in the same road as the murder scene, accompanied by his cousin Erion Voja, who was visiting from London, Dean O’Neill Davey and Andruis Uzkuraitis, formed a burial party to hide the body.
The men, equipped with a spade, wellies, gloves, bottles of bleach and bin bags purchased for them from Asda by sisters of Balbas, were digging a grave on nearby wasteland when they were disturbed by police who were investigating a road traffic accident nearby and they abandoned the burial.
"What they did in February last year was nothing short of atrocious"
Following the sentencing, Detective Inspector Heidi Cullum, of GMP’s Major Incident Team, said: "These men took the law into their own hands and murdered Christopher Hughes. What they did in February last year was nothing short of atrocious.
"The work of the Major Incident Team and specialist units within GMP, along with the Crown Prosecution Service in bringing these individuals to justice, has been meticulous. We only hope the verdict and sentences brings some justice and comfort to his family and friends.”
Christopher's family 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."
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