Pottery Cottage murders

The Pottery Cottage murders took place in Eastmoor, Chesterfield in January 1977. William Thomas Hughes escaped from custody whilst being transferred from prison to court where he was facing charges of rape and grievous bodily harm.[1] He stabbed two prison officers during his escape and then took five members of a local family hostage, only one of whom survived.[2][3][4]

Pottery Cottage murders

Pottery Cottage 1977
Date	12-14 January 1977
Location	Pottery Cottage, Eastmoor, Chesterfield
Coordinates	53°14′16.8″N 1°32′47.4″W
Deaths	Arthur Minton (72) Amy Minton (68) Richard Moran (36) Sarah Moran (10)

Hughes was the first person to be shot dead by Derbyshire Constabulary[5][6] and the first prison escapee to be shot dead in the United Kingdom in modern times.[7][4]

Background

William Thomas Hughes (known as Billy, born 8 August 1946, Preston, Lancashire) was the first of six children born to Thomas Hughes and his wife Mary. He had little interest in his education, his academic performance was poor and he was prone to antisocial behaviour and petty criminality from a young age. He failed to hold down a job for any lasting duration after leaving school at age 15. Hughes' escalating criminal behaviour resulted in spells in approved schools and Borstal; he received the first of multiple prison sentences in 1966.[8][9][10]

Hughes was married with one child, the relationship was beset with abuse, violence and infidelity.[10][11] He left his wife in March 1976 and moved to Chesterfield where, on the night of 21 August 1976, he beat a man with a brick and raped his girlfriend after meeting them in a local nightclub.[11] He was subsequently arrested, charged and remanded to HMP Leicester; despite his history of violent behaviour he was allocated work in the prison kitchen from where he stole a boning knife, managing to keep it concealed during searches.[12]

Pottery Cottage was a converted 18th Century pottery barn on the edge of the Peak District National Park in Eastmoor. At the time of Hughes escpae from custody it was the home of Richard and Gillian Moran, their daughter Sarah and Gillians parents, Arthur and Amy Minton.[13]

Timeline

12 January 1977

Escape

Hughes was scheduled to appear in court in Chesterfield, the weather conditions were bad, heavy snow had fallen and traffic flow was disrupted. He would be transported by taxi accompanied by Prison officer's Don Sprintall and Ken Simmonds; he was frisked, handcuffed to Simmonds and placed in the back seat of the taxicab, with Sprintall sitting in the front passenger seat.[14][15]

Before reaching the court Hughes insisted that he needed to use the bathroom, using the opportunity to retrieve the stolen boning knife he had hidden on his person.[16] Shortly after the journey restarted he attacked Sprintall, stabbing him in the back of the neck, before turning his attention to Simmonds. After incapacitating his guards he had the taxi driver drive on for a short distance before dumping him and the badly injured officers at the roadside.[17] Hughes drove off, crashing the car shortly afterwards and fled on foot over Beeley moor.[18][15]

Pottery Cottage

The Minton's were at home at Pottery Cottage when Hughes walked in through the back door armed with two axes he'd found in their shed. He told them he was on the run from the Police and assured them that he wouldn't hurt them,[13] that he just needed to lay low until nightfall. Gillian Moran came home shortly after, followed by her daughter Sarah and finally her husband Richard;[19] despite his previous assurances Hughes tied up and gagged his hostages before isolating them in separate rooms.[20]

Gillian Moran spent the first night bound and gagged in her marital bedroom, she heard the sounds of a disturbance coming from the lounge below and realized it was her father being beaten. Hughes then brought her a cup of tea, held the cup for her while she drank and then sexually assaulted her,[21] before spending the rest of the night chatting to her husband in the next room, "as if he'd met him in a pub".[20]

13 January 1977

Hughes instructed Gillian to call her employer and her daughters school to inform them they were unwell and would not be coming in, when she asked about her daughter's whereabouts Hughes claimed that Sarah was asleep in the Minton's annexe.[4][22]

A local authority vehicle arrived to empty the septic tank, Hughes directed Gillian outside to greet them while warning her to "act normal". After Richard was made to call his place of work to advise that he was ill, Gillian was sent out alone to buy newspapers and cigarettes, with Hughes cautioning her "I've got your family here...don't do anything stupid".[23][22]

Gillian made food and drinks for Hughes and her family throughout the day, with Hughes taking some through to Arthur and Sarah in the annexe. Gillian queried why her daughter had not asked for her "comfort towel" and a particular soft toy that she slept with every night, Hughes took the items through to the annexe, claiming Sarah "was really pleased to see them" on his return.[22] [4]

After reassuring his hostages that he would be leaving that evening, he untied them while they drank a bottle of whiskey together and played card games.[22] He took two trips out later that evening on the premise of preparing to escape, firstly taking both the Moran's with him and then just Gillian, before returning to Pottery Cottage for a second night.[24] Gillian again asked Hughes about her daughter requesting that he bring her through from the annexe for the night, but he refused, with Gillian later stating "He became very tense. I didn't mention it again because he frightened me and I wanted to keep him happy".[24]

14 January 1977

Hughes sent the Moran's into Chesterfield to purchase supplies he'd need while on the run.[23][4] During the journey, Richard tried to convince his wife that they should go to the Police, but fearing the repercussions for those still inside the house she refused.[25]

Hughes spent the afternoon preparing to leave, he took food and other items through to the annexe and relayed conversations he claimed he'd had with Sarah,[25] he then had the Moran's drive him to Richard's place of work so he could steal the petty cash.[26][27][23][25]

Leaving Richard and Amy tied up and taking Gillan with him as a hostage, Hughes departed Pottery Cottage later that evening.[25] After driving for several miles he insisted on returning to the house claiming to have forgotten a map, he went back inside alone. Upon his return the car wouldn't start, he sent Gillian unaccompanied to a neighbours house to ask for a tow, she alerted them to the hostage situation and, not having a phone, they fled the scene to get help.[28] As Hughes angrily berated Gillian for warning the neighbour's his attention immediately shifted to the sight of Amy Minton staggering towards them and then collapsing; Gillian later stated "I couldn't believe it. She was supposed to be tied up...I could see mum lying on her back in the snow...I was at my wits' end". Hughes forced Gillian to approach another neighbour for help, this time accompanying her and they were soon on their way.[28]

Having been alerted by the Moran's neighbours, the Police arrived at Pottery Cottage just before 9pm; they found Amy Minton's body in the garden and the bodies of Richard and Sarah Moran and Arthur Minton inside the house - all four had been stabbed.[29] Despite Hughes maintaining the pretence that Arthur and Sarah were still alive throughout, both are thought to have been murdered on the first night.[4][1][21]

Although Hughes had a head-start, the police soon caught up with him and thus began a high speed, multiple-car chase across Derbyshire and into Cheshire, ending when he crashed into a wall in the village of Rainow[29][1] Quickly surrounded and with Detective Chief Inspector Peter Howse leading the hostage negotiation, Hughes held an axe over Gillian's head and demanded a vehicle in which to escape. As firearms officers moved into place, a getaway vehicle was provided but Gillian refused to move. Howse later recalled: "Their relationship as hostage and captor had reached breaking point".[30] As Hughes made to strike Gillian with the axe, Howse went through the car window and firearms officer Pell fired the first shot; it took three further shots to incapacitate and kill him.[30][31]

Official inquiries

Chief Inspector of the Prison Service inquiry

Chief Inspector Gordon Fowler's report, issued March 1977, criticized the failure of management and staff at HMP Leicester to follow standard searching procedures after the knife disappeared from the prison kitchen. He was critical of the search methods used before prisoner transfers, recommending strip searches in all cases. He noted the lack of information provided by the Police to enable the Prison Service to categorise Hughes appropriately and he criticised the breakdown in communication between different prison departments which left his records incomplete.[32][33][34] He made 17 recommendations to be implemented immediately, all of which the Home Secretary, Merlyn Rees, accepted.[16]

Coroner's inquiry

The inquest into the deaths at Pottery Cottage and the shooting of Hughes took place in Chesterfield on 27 April 1977.[35] Home Office Pathologist, Dr Alan Usher, confirmed that the victims at Pottery Cottage had died as a result of multiple stab wounds and that Hughes had died from gunshot wounds.[31] Murder verdicts were returned for each of the victims at Pottery Cottage and a verdict of justifiable homicide in the case of Hughes.[36] [35]

At the conclusion of the inquest, both Coroner and jury praised the bravery of Chief Inspector Howse for preventing Hughes from hitting Gillian Moran with the axe, with the latter recommending that he receive a commendation.[31] He was duly awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct[1] in December 1977.[37]

References

Footnotes

1. "'˜The bullet just bounced off his head and made him more wild'". Lancashire Post. June 2, 2017.
2. "Knife-crazy killer shot dead". Daily Mirror. 15 January 1977. p. 1 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Victims of the crazy knife killer". Daily Mirror. 16 January 1977. pp. 1, 4, 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. Roper, Matt (3 March 2020). "Pottery Cottage killings still haunt police investigator after four decades". Daily Mirror.
5. Crowson, Isaac (22 November 2017). "The hero cop who brought mass murderer's rampage to an end". Derby Telegraph.
6. "40 Years On: Four members of same family held captive and killed by escaped convict in Derbyshire". Derbyshire Times. January 17, 2017.
7. Lee & Howse 2020, Foreword.
8. "His final hours: Judge turns down the last appeal bid". Daily Mirror. 17 January 1977. pp. 2–3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 1.
10. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 2.
11. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 3.
12. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 4.
13. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 6.
14. "William Thomas Hughes". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 924. United Kingdom: House of Commons. January 17, 1977. col. 27-33.
15. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 5.
16. "William Thomas Hughes". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 927. United Kingdom: House of Commons. March 10, 1977. col. 1644-54.
17. "Escaped Prisoner's Murders - William Hughes". ATV Today. January 17, 1977 – via Media Archive for Central England.
18. "Escaped convict". ATV Today. January 13, 1977 – via Media Archive for Central England.
19. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 7.
20. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 8.
21. "Timetable of terror". Birmingham Daily Post. 18 January 1977. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
22. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 9.
23. "55 Hours with the knife-man". Daily Mirror. 18 January 1977. p. 1 – via British Newspaper Archive.
24. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 10.
25. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 11.
26. "Hughes forced victims to steal". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. 17 January 1977. p. 1 – via British Newspaper Archive.
27. "Massacre house couple - story of cash raid". Reading Evening Post. 17 January 1977. p. 1 – via British Newspaper Archive.
28. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 12.
29. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 13.
30. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 14.
31. "Police hero saved woman from killer". Birmingham Daily Post. 28 April 1977. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
32. Fowler, Gordon (1977). Report of an inquiry by the Chief Inspector of the Prison Service into security at HM Prison Leicester and the arrangements for conducting prisoners to courts (escape of William Thomas Hughes on 12 January 1977). Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 978-0-10-220277-9.
33. "Report raps blunders by prison staff". Daily Mirror. 11 March 1977. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
34. "Report accuses prison staff and police on Hughes mix-up". Birmingham Daily Post. 11 March 1977. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
35. Lee & Howse 2020, chpt. 16.
36. "Why we had to gun down rapist". Liverpool Echo. 27 April 1977. p. 1 – via British Newspaper Archive.
37. "Hero Cop Wins Top Honour". Daily Mirror. 6 December 1977. p. 11 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Works cited

• Lee, Carol Ann; Howse, Peter (2020). The Pottery Cottage Murders: The first-hand account of a family held hostage. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 978-1-4721-4391-4.