Innocent dad kidnapped and stabbed 90 times by vigilante gang after teen raped

23 January 2023 , 20:23

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Christopher Hughes was stabbed more than 90 times (Image: GMP)

Seven men have been convicted of the brutal kidnap and murder of a dad after they wrongly thought he was behind the rape of a teen girl.

Christopher Hughes, 37, from Wigan was stabbed more than 90 times after he was kidnapped off the streets in broad daylight.

The gang were looking for retribution to the horrific rape-at-knife point of a young girl, attacked behind a post office in Wigan.

The jury returned an unanimous verdict of guilty for seven of the eight defendants after 34 hours of deliberations.

Mr Hughes, a former boxer, was spotted in Wigan on February 18 last year as the gang hunted him for more than 24 hours before tracking him down.

Double killer who slit girlfriend's throat within weeks of release jailed

Seven men have now been convicted of murder (GMP)

The former boxer was wrongly blamed for a horrific rape

He was driven to Skelmersdale, by Curtis Balbas, 30, and Erland Spahiu, 34 and repeatedly stabbed before his body was discarded at the foot of an embankment nearby.

Mr Hughes' body was not discovered until it was found by a dog walker four days later.

Prosecutor John Elvidge KC told Liverpool Crown Court that Dean O’Neill Davey,30, and Uzkuraitis, 27, Spahiu's cousin, Erion Voja, 21, formed a burial party to hide the body.

Eight men stood accused after Balbas pleaded guilty before the trial began (James Maloney/Lancs Live)

The group were digging a grave on wasteland when they were discovered by police attending a road traffic accident nearby and abandoned the project.

Balbas pleaded guilty before the trial began, while Spahiu told how Mr Hughes could be heard in the boot of the Audi used by the kidnappers saying "What have I done wrong?"

The Audi was seen on CCTV entering White Moss Road South from junction four of the M58 at 4.48 pm on the day Hughes went missing.

The spot in White Moss Road South near Skelmersdale, where the body of 37-year-old Christopher Hughes was found (James Maloney/Lancs Live)

It was seen heading towards junction three 20 minutes later.

Elvidge said during the trial: "In the intervening period Christopher Hughes was taken from the boot, viciously attacked and then left at the foot of the embankment on White Moss Road South."

Balbas pleaded guilty before the trial began. Spahiu, O’Neill Davey, Voja, Martin Smith, 34, Alan Jaf, 52, Khalil Awla, 48, and Mohammed Razgar, 40 were all found guilty of kidnap and murder.

Tributes were paid in the wake of his murder (James Maloney/Lancs Live)

Andrius Uzkuraitis, was cleared of murder and kidnap and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm but was convicted of assisting an offender.

Killer dances in his victim's house with twerking model who later turned on him

After Mr Hughes' death, his mum said: "He will leave a part in the family that can never be filled."

Sentencing is expected on January 24.

Benjamin Lynch