Daily Mail, Tuesday, March 3, 2020^ Page 29bloodbath in the snow
been explained — especially as he
had a little girl of his own. Yet he
must have killed Sarah very early
on, along with her grandfather,
perhaps within just hours of
infiltrating their home.
Their bodies had lain there for
two days, while Hughes carried on
the macabre pretence with the
others that they were alive and
well by taking food to them.
Now, from what had been a close-
knit family of five, Gill was the only
one left alive — but in the hands of
the killer.AS SHE and Hughes sped through
the dark, Gill was completely
oblivious to the fact that Pottery
Cottage, her home, was now a
charnel house containing the
bodies of her mother, father,
husband and child, all murdered
by the man at her side.
‘There’s a car coming up behind
us fast,’ Hughes snarled, frowning
at the rear-view mirror. ‘It’s a
f***ing cop car,’ and he slammed
his foot down on the accelerator.
But the pursuing squad car was
faster, overtook and, braking hard,
came to a halt. The four officers
inside jumped out, blocking the
road — but Hughes ploughed on,sending them scattering. They
took up the chase along the icy
road, with Hughes ahead of them
reaching speeds of well over 80mph
and periodically swinging an axe
out of the window.
Ahead, another police car with
flashing lights blocked the way but
Hughes swerved round it before
losing control on a bend. The car
spun round and skidded into a
drystone wall and was quickly
surrounded by police.
Hughes reared over Gill, pulling
her head backwards. He had a
knife to her throat. ‘Back off, cop-
pers!’ he yelled, ‘or she gets this!’
‘He means it!’ Gill screamed,
shaking uncontrollably, and the
police stepped back.
‘Get me a car full of petrol,’ he
demanded, the knife still pressed
against Gill’s throat. ‘Or else.’
DI Geoff Cooper held up his
hands. ‘All right. Take my car. The
keys are in, and it’s full of petrol.’
Hughes pushed a whimpering
Gill out of the crashed car. ‘I could
see policemen and I wanted to run
to them,’ she said, ‘but he forced
me into the other car.’
Then they roared off at top speed,
with a convoy of police vehicles in
pursuit. But ahead, an ambush
was being set up in the tiny villageof Rainow, not far from Maccles-
field. Police commandeered a
single-decker bus and strung it at
an angle across the road.
Hughes hurtled into view round a
bend at 70mph, mounted the pave-
ment and managed to scrape past
the bus in an ear-splitting shriek of
metal on metal, before swerving
and crashing head-first into a wall.
There were shouts, screams and
the sound of breaking glass as he
smashed the two rear passenger
windows with his axe. Inside the
car, Gill — miraculously unhurt, as
was Hughes — lifted her head and
saw that ‘suddenly, there were
policemen all around’.
Hughes quickly pinned Gill down
with his body, holding the axe
inches from her face. She was
hysterical and shook with the shock
of it all, making him roar, ‘Can’t you
keep your bloody legs still?’
Chief Inspector Peter Howse — in
charge of the hunt for Hughes —
was on the scene and ran to the
crashed car. He bent down at the
shattered nearside window and
peered into the dark interior.
‘If you come any closer I’ll kill
her!’ Hughes shouted.
‘Billy, don’t kill me,’ Gill pleaded.
Howse backed off to assess the
situation. Hughes was trapped allright, but so, too, was his hostage.
And the policeman had no doubt
that attempting to arrest Hughes
would result in him attacking her.
The only option was negotiation,
to persuade Hughes to release her
and give himself up.
Howse crouched by the broken
rear window, raising his hands to
show he was not armed. ‘There’s
only me here now, Billy,’ he said.
‘So let’s talk. There’s no need to
harm Gill. Just calm down.’
Gill felt just a little of the terror
that had gripped her over the past
three days begin to ebb. ‘I have
never heard such a wonderful voice
in the whole of my life,’ she
reflected afterwards. ‘It had such
kindness and gentleness in it. And
it gave me so much comfort.’
Howse talked on. ‘I don’t think
you really want to harm Gill, do
you? You’re a family man yourself.
You’ve got a wife.. .’
‘I’m not bothered about her!’
Hughes shouted back in fury. ‘No
f***er cares about me — and I
intend to take every f***er with me
if I have to.’
‘All right,’ said Howse. ‘But think
about this lady here — she’s looked
after you for three days, hasn’t
she? She’s done everything for you,
and you must think a lot of herafter all she’s done. Be fair now,
give her a chance.’
‘She’s been all right,’ Hughes said
grudgingly. ‘But you try anything
and she’s dead.’
He raised the axe closer to Gill’s
skull, causing her to scream.
‘Listen to me: I want a car with a
blue light and a working radio. I’ll
take her with me but I’ll let her out
on the motorway.’
Gill asked in a small voice, ‘Is
that right, Billy? You’ll let me go?’
Hughes nodded. ‘You’re coming
with me but I’ll drop you off, you’ll
be all right.’ Gill said nothing. ‘I’d
got past believing him by then,’
she recalls.
Howse shook his head. ‘You can
have the car, Billy, but I want the
woman. Give me your word on that
and you can have the car.’
‘Billy, please,’ Gill begged. ‘Give
him your word.’
Howse switched tack. ‘If I let you
have a car, Billy, how far do
you think you’ll get? You might as
well give yourself up now. What
can they do to you except send you
to prison for a while?’
‘I’m not going to prison ever
again!’ Hughes roared back. ‘I’ll
take all you b******s with me when
I go before that happens! And I’ll
kill her for sure if you don’t get me
another car.’
‘I’ll do that,’ Howse said. ‘But
only if you let her go. Then you can
take me as your hostage. I’ll drive
and you can sit behind me with
your knife and the axe. I’ll drive
you wherever you want to go.
‘Come on, Billy, I’m giving you
the chance to take the easy way
out. I want your word, Billy. About
her. Look at me.’
‘All right then,’ Hughes said.b
uT just at that moment a
security light clicked on
in a nearby property,
illuminating the car and
causing Hughes to go berserk. He
accused Howse of trying to trap
him. Then he noticed two officers
crouched close by. ‘Get those two
b******s to back off!’ he shouted.
Howse called for the men to
withdraw. But now Hughes was
getting impatient. ‘Time is running
out,’ he shouted, and made more
demands. He wanted the getaway
car parked facing Macclesfield. He
also wanted cigarettes.
Howse left to do his bidding, and
not long after, a police patrol car
was driven forward and left with
the engine running.
Meanwhile, back among the vast
throng of officers now gathered in
Rainow, Howse briefed two fire-
arms officers armed with Smith &
Wesson .38-calibre revolvers, each
loaded with five bullets.
In the dark, they were confident
they could get close enough to the
driver’s side of the car to be in a
position to shoot if necessary.
Howse outlined a plan: when
Hughes moved to the new car,
parked alongside the crashed one,
no doubt using Gill as his shield,
Howse would attempt to free her. If
it came to it and there was no other
choice, they should shoot Hughes.
Howse went back to the crashed
car, to find Hughes prevaricating.
Now he wanted a police cap, a pair
of size - eight shoes and more
cigarettes. Howse returned to his
g a t h e r e d c o l l e a g u e s , f o u n d
TURN To NEXT PAGEMurder scene: A police car
outside Pottery Cottage,
and, inset, ten-year-old
victim Sarah Moran