Eight jailed for kidnapping and murdering a Wigan man wrongly accused of assaulting a woman

Eight men who kidnapped and murdered a man they wrongly believed to have assaulted a woman before extensively trying to cover up their actions have been jailed for a total of 235 years.

Christopher Hughes, 37, was hunted last down by the gang in Wigan who went to his home and searched the streets until he was eventually caught on 18 February 2022.

Two of the group, Erland Spahiu, 34, and Curtis Balbas, 30, jumped out of the car they were travelling in and punched Mr Hughes to the ground before bundling him into the boot.

He was then attacked and beaten using weapons like a hatchet and machete, before being murdered and dumped on an embankment on White Moss Road South.

A post mortem showed he had suffered 90 sharp force injuries to his head, neck, body and limbs, most of them inflicted whilst he was still alive.

His body was discovered five days later by a dog walker in the ditch close to the M58 motorway on the morning of 22 February.

The gang made extensive efforts to cover their tracks, including arranging for CCTV images to be wiped, changing telephones, and disposing of the car they had used to transport Mr Hughes.

But they were caught after police discovered some of the gang attempting to dig a grave in Skelmersdale.

After a three-month trial at Liverpool Crown Court, the jury found Khalil Awla 48, Erion Voja 21, Razgar Mohammed 40, Alan Jaf 52, Dean O’Neill-Davey 30, Erland Spahiu 34, and Martin Smith 38, guilty of kidnapping and murdering Christopher Hughes.

Curtis Balbas 30, had previously pleaded guilty to kidnapping Mr Hughes and admitted the murder after the prosecution case had concluded at trial.

Andrius Uzkuraitis 27 was found guilty of assisting an offender.

Rebecca Macaulay-Addison of CPS North West’s Complex Casework Unit said: ”These men were responsible for the death of Christopher, in violent and terrifying circumstances.

"The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) worked hard with the Major Incident Team at GMP to build a strong case, pulling together all the evidence including eyewitness testimony, CCTV footage, forensic evidence, mobile phone messages and telephone location data, into a compelling case to place before the jury.

“My thoughts are very much with Christopher’s family who I know feel his loss deeply.”