‘I’m no murderer. I’ll get my justice one day you t***’: Vigilante killer’s furious rant at judge as he and seven others are jailed for life for brutal machete murder of father they wrongly believed was a rapist
- Martin Smith and Erion Voja abused judge as they were sentenced in court today
- Voja continued outburst as he was led into the cells, shouting ‘I don’t give a f***’
Eight men were today jailed for a minimum of 229 years after they kidnapped and murdered an innocent father who they wrongly thought had raped a teenage girl.
Martin Smith, 34, Erion Voja, 21, Erland Spahiu, 34, Curtis Balbas, 31, Razgar Khader Mohammed, 41, Alan Jaf, 52, Khalil Awla, 49, Dean Smeaton O’Neill-Davey, 30, were part of a gang that tortured and killed Christopher Hughes, 37.
Smith shook his head as he was sentenced, took a sip of water then threw his plastic cup to the floor. Meanwhile, Voja ranted at the judge, saying: ‘I know myself. I’m no murderer. I’ll get my justice one day you t***.’
He continued his outburst after being led into the cells, where he began punching walls before shouting: ‘I don’t give a f*** any more.’
Mr Hughes suffered over 90 sharp force injuries to his head, neck, body and limbs, with the most inflicted while he was alive, following his abduction on February 18 last year.
Martin Smith, 34, and Erion Voja, 21, abused the judge as they were sentenced for murder today at Liverpool Crown Court
Christopher Hughes suffered over 90 sharp force injuries to his head, neck, body and limbs, with the most inflicted while he was alive, following his abduction on February 18 last year
Liverpool Crown Court heard his attackers, without justification, had launched the vicious attack on Christopher as sexual crime he did not commit.
His body remained undetected for four days as police conducted a wide-ranging search.
It was only discovered on February 22 by a member of the public with their dog on White Moss Road South in Skelmersdale, Lancashire.
Today the men, who were all related or knew each other, were handed minimum-term life sentences ranging from 23 to 35 for their part in Mr Hughes’ kidnap and killing.
A ninth man, Andrius Uzkuraitis, 27, was convicted of assisting an offender and jailed for six years.
Detective Inspector Heidi Cullum, from Greater Manchester Police, said the violence the men had shown towards Mr Hughes was ‘nothing short of atrocious.’
‘These men took the law into their own hands and murdered Christopher Hughes,’ she said. ‘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.’
Erland Spahiu, 34, and Curtis Balbas, 31 were part of the
Razgar Khader Mohammed, 41, Alan Jaf, 52, were part of the gang that murdered Mr Hughes after wrongly suspecting him of rape
The series of events began on the evening before Mr Hughes’ murder when the guilty men came to the conclusion that he had committed a sexual offence.
However, the DNA evidence submitted in the police investigation did not match Mr Hughes. He was completely innocent.
The gang searched parts of Wigan, for hours on the evening of February 17 last year and broke into his home.
The hunt continued the following day until Mr Hughes was abducted in broad daylight and was forced into the boot of a car and driven at speed to Skelmersdale.
He was then brutally attacked and killed near White Moss Road South in Manchester.
Later that evening, formed a burial party to dispose of Mr Hughes’ body.
But they were disturbed by police who were in the area for an unrelated reason and abandoned their plans.
Afterwards, the body remained undiscovered for several days in snowy, wet weather.
Khalil Awla, 49, Dean Smeaton O’Neill-Davey, 30, were also sentenced for murder
A ninth man, Andrius Uzkuraitis, 27, was convicted of assisting an offender and jailed for six years
The guilty men continued to try and cover their tracks by destroying CCTV, changing telephones, deleting messages and disposing of the Audi used in the kidnap.
Hours of CCTV footage were recovered and reviewed by officers who were able to link the men to the murder.
Mr Hughes’ family said he would ‘live on’ in their hearts following the sentencing and thanked the police for bringing his killers to justice.
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.’
Mr Hughes’ family said he would ‘live on’ in their hearts following the sentencing and thanked the police for bringing his killers to justice