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Executed in a toilet with British special forces just yards away: Horrendous death of construction worker held hostage in Nigeria recounted to family at inquest
- Chris McManus was shot six times in a toilet during the rescue attempt
- Seven British special forces soldiers and the Nigerians risked their lives
- His Italian colleague Franco Lamolinara was also killed
By Ian Drury
PUBLISHED:12:24 EST, 17 May 2013| UPDATED:07:36 EST, 18 May 2013
A British hostage was executed by Islamist kidnappers moments after UK Special Forces launched a rescue mission in Nigeria, an inquest heard.
Construction worker Chris McManus, 28, was shot six times as he sought refuge in a toilet while the Special Boat Service joined Nigerian soldiers in a battle to save his life.
His Italian colleague, Franco Lamolinara, 48, was also killed in the raid last March. The pair had been held for ten months.
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Chris McManus (pictured) and Italian colleague Franco Lamolinar taken hostage in northern Nigeria were killed by their captors before they could be rescued
Yesterday’s inquest was told that the hostages had been killed ‘fairly quickly into the engagement’, which was authorised by David Cameron due to mounting concerns over the men’s safety.
Mr McManus, a quantity surveyor from Oldham, had been living in a heavily-guarded compound in the city of Birnin-Kebbi, previously considered safe by his employer, construction company B.Stabilini.
However, on May 12, 2011, the Salford University graduate was abducted at gunpoint from his apartment. Mr Lamolinara was seized at the same time.
After months in captivity, intelligence emerged that the men were being held in Sokoto, around 100 miles from where they were snatched.
British Special Forces were deployed to the area and on March 8 last year, Cobra– the Government’s emergency response committee – approved the rescue mission.
Laura McManus, the mother of Chris McManus from Oldham, read a statement after the inquest in Salisbury into her son's death
Laura McManus and Chris's sister Justine McManus (left) and brother Ben McManus, after the inquest
Chris McManus's mother kisses her son Ben after the inquest and giving a statement
Just 45 minutes later, seven UK troops supported by Nigerians burst into the compound to be met by a hail of gunfire, Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner’s Court was told.
Troops began a search and found a room with barred windows containing two beds and a Manchester United shirt similar to one Mr McManus wore in a hostage video.
Detective Chief Inspector Grant Mallon, who investigated the shootings, said: ‘There was a metal door to a toilet and they noticed there were bullet holes.
‘The door was partially open and when the soldiers looked inside they could see two white males on the floor. Both men had visible gunshot wounds. It appears they were killed fairly quickly into the engagement.’
Kidnapped British national Chris McManus with three alleged masked and armed members of an Al Qaeda-linked Nigerian group at an unidentified location
The house in Nigeria where British hostage Chris McManus and Italian hostage Franco Lamolinara were killed
The pair were killed when a Special Boat Service rescue operation ended in tragedy. Gunshot holes and marks can be seen on the walls
Franco Lamolinara, the Italian hostage killed in Nigeria alongside Chris McManus
A post-mortem found Mr McManus died ‘almost immediately’ from a single shot to the head. He suffered five other gunshot wounds.
Coroner David Ridley said the construction worker appeared to have been hiding inside the toilet when the rescue mission started, but was shot through the door.
He recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.
The failed mission sparked a diplomatic row. The Italian president said it was ‘inexplicable’ that Downing Street had not alerted Rome in advance, but Foreign Secretary William Hague said this was impossible because of the danger to the captives.
Mr McManus’s family paid tribute to the military personnel who ‘risked their lives to rescue Chris from the compound’, and insisted ministers were right to order the raid.
His mother Laura said: ‘We accept that the decisions reached and taken by the authorities were the only ones possible based on the information available.
'Chris cannot be hurt any more. We and all those who loved him will always remember the way he lived and not the way he died.’
Youths look out from a compound where two hostages were held in Sokoto, Nigeria on Saturday
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