The murders occurred after William Thomas Hughes escaped from custody whilst being transferred from prison to court to face charges of rape and grievous bodily harm.

[1] Chief Inspector Peter Howse was later awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct for his role in apprehending Hughes and saving the life of the sole survivor.

Five months later, on the night of 21 August,[8] he followed a young couple whom he had met in a nightclub to a local park where he beat the man about the head with a brick, rendering him unconscious, before proceeding to drag his partner to a nearby riverbank where he raped her at knifepoint.

[11] Despite his extensive history of violent behaviour, Hughes was categorized as a Category B inmate and allocated work in the prison kitchen[12] from where, on 3 December 1976, he stole a seven-and-a-half-inch boning knife which he managed to keep concealed inside a small, fine tear he had carved in the base of his mattress despite subsequent searches for the utensil.

[17] Shortly after selling their business, the couple relocated from the West Midlands to Derbyshire, sharing a home with their younger daughter Gillian and her husband, Richard Moran.

Shortly thereafter, Moran followed his foster sister, Margaret Hawe, to Birmingham, where he initially worked in a factory whilst studying in the evenings, later securing a role as a sales clerk with a local building company.

In this phone call, he taunted his former lover by whispering "No-one with you, I hope" before alluding to her efforts to evade him by changing her address—sarcastically revealing he had duped a "directory enquiries lady" into providing him with her new address.

He first attacked Sprintall, stabbing him in the back of the neck and narrowly missing his spine,[33][n 4] before turning his attention to Simmonds, whom he slashed across the jaw and hand.

At the scene, the police dogs were unable to pick up a scent, the heavy snowfall had already concealed any footprints and there were no witnesses to the crash itself as the roads were largely deserted due to the harsh climate.

[36] Investigators believed the most likely scenario pertaining to Hughes' movements to be that he would continue towards Beeley, ultimately desiring to reach the A6, and unlikely that he would have headed onto the vast, open moors in such treacherous conditions.

[42] Richard Moran arrived home from a business meeting in Birmingham[43] just after 6 p.m. to find Hughes holding a boning knife to his wife's throat, threatening to kill her if anyone approached him.

He forced Richard to the floor and bound his hands and legs with flex cut from a vacuum cleaner and washing line, then tied up Gillian and Amy with similar cords.

[52] Richard was then forced to phone his place of work to advise that he was also ill before Gillian was ordered to drive to Chesterfield to purchase newspapers and cigarettes and check for roadblocks,[53] with Hughes cautioning her at the doorway to the property: "I've got your family here, Gill.

"[54] When Gillian returned to Pottery Cottage, she immediately noted that her father was no longer sitting in the lounge armchair, causing Hughes to claim he had moved the pensioner into his bedroom.

[64] On the morning of 14 January, Hughes ordered Gillian to prepare tea and toast for everyone (again taking plates and cups to Arthur and Sarah to give the impression the two were still alive).

He then forced the Morans to drive him to Brett Plastics, where he stole approximately £210 (the equivalent of about £1,660 as of 2025[update])[67] from some wage packets and petty cash from the company safe[68][69] before ordering the couple to drive him back to Pottery Cottage, where he again bound Richard before packing his supplies into the family Chrysler and announcing he was leaving, taking Gillian as a hostage and adding that—as he had previously promised his captives—she would be released to return home to free them once he had driven a reasonable distance from the property.

[77] Physical and circumstantial evidence at the crime scene revealed that, although Hughes had attempted to deceive Amy, Gillian and Richard that Arthur and Sarah had been alive throughout their captivity, both had most likely been murdered either on the night of 12 January or in the early hours of the following day.

Numerous police cars soon caught up with the vehicle and thus began a high speed, multiple-car chase across Derbyshire, via Chapel-en-le-Frith, and which ultimately progressed into Cheshire.

[74] At one stage of the pursuit, an unmarked Morris Marina police car cut in front of the Chrysler, causing Hughes to swerve and crash into a wall.

[74] The police pursuit of Hughes ultimately ended just before 10 p.m. when he attempted to avoid a Crosville single-decker bus which had been strategically positioned to horizontally block an arterial road in the village of Rainow.

Hughes attempted to swerve around the bus but lost control of the car, spinning the Morris Marina around, mounting a kerb and crashing through a street sign, then into a drystone wall.

As he bit deeply into Howse's arm as he continued to attempt to strike Gillian, a further three rounds were fired, the last of which entered Hughes' shoulder, passing through his aorta and killing him.

The Fowler Report severely criticised the management and staff at HMP Leicester regarding their failure to pursue standard searching procedures after Hughes had stolen the knife from the prison kitchen more than one month before his escape.

Despite the numerous issues highlighted in the Fowler Report, no disciplinary action was initiated against any member of staff or management, as the failures were deemed to have been systematic and not the fault of any individual.

In a Parliamentary debate held on the date of the publishing of the Fowler Report, Home Secretary Merlyn Rees stated the isolated or abandoned properties in bleak moorland would have been ideal for a fugitive hiding from the police and taking shelter in the extreme weather conditions and that, although police searches had "extended to farm buildings in the Eastmoor area", Pottery Cottage was not searched, in part due to "all outward appearances the cottages were occupied by their usual residents and life was continuing normally" for the occupants.

[86] At the conclusion of the inquest, both the coroner and jury praised the bravery of Superintendent Howse for preventing Hughes from striking Gillian with the axe, with the latter recommending that he receive a commendation.

[34] The joint funeral service for Richard and Sarah Moran and Arthur and Amy Minton was conducted at Brimington Cemetery, Chesterfield on Friday 21 January 1977.

[91] The same day as the funerals of those killed at Pottery Cottage was held, an ATV journalist conducted an interview with Teresa O'Doherty, who had terminated her relationship with Hughes via telephone shortly before his escape.

However, news of this decision triggered fierce protests from local residents who did not wish him to be buried in the cemetery and insisted he be interred at HM Prison Leicester with other inmates who had previously been executed at this location.

[96] Gillian Moran later sold the exclusive rights to her story to the Daily Mail; she was interviewed by Lynda Lee-Potter and her account was serialised in eight parts, commencing 14 February 1977.