In 2013 he received Specialist Journalist of the Year Award[1] in recognition for his work as a defense correspondent[2] Since 1994 Hughes has been working as security correspondent for the Daily Mirror, specialising in conflict-zone reporting with particular emphasis on Middle Eastern conflicts, global terrorism and war,[3] and has spent time covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
His memoir, Road Trip to Hell (2011), details his time with UK and American forces in the two countries.
[7] In September 2017 his exclusive story about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appeared on the front-page of the Daily Mirror newspaper.
[8] In his memoir Road Trip to Hell, Hughes mentioned he was the first Western reporter to enter Iraq after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, and the first Western journalist to access Saddam Hussein's bunker.
[9] In 2009 Hughes co-authored Attack State Red, an account of the 2007 campaign undertaken by the Royal Anglian Regiment, documenting their initial deployment and trials in Afghanistan.