Hostage died minutes into rescue

Chris McManus

A ROYTON construction worker was murdered by his kidnappers just minutes after a joint UK and Nigerian rescue operation stormed into the compound where he was held, an inquest has heard.

Quantity surveyor Chris McManus, of Wensleydale Close, was shot six times as special forces tried to save his life - themselves under rifle fire from the compound in Nigerian city Sokoto.

The hearing, in Salisbury, heard the soldiers stormed the building after intelligence told them Mr McManus (28) was there with fellow captive Franco Lamolinara, who also died.

The rescue team had been sent to the area the previous day and burst through the compound front gates on March 8 2012, said senior investigator, Det Ch Ins Grant Mallon.

The soldiers came under heavy fire and killed at least one militant: “They called out for Franco and Chris but received no reply,” Mr Mallon said.

“To the right there was a metal door to a toilet and they noticed bullet holes. The door was partially open and the soldiers saw two white men on the floor, immediately recognised as Chris and Franco.”

Both men were dead

Chris died from a single shot to the head and died almost instantly, the hearing was told.

The men had been kidnapped in May 2011 as Chris worked for a construction company building shopping centres and stadiums in Nigeria.

Coroner David Ridley recorded that Chris had been unlawfully killed.

In a statement Chris’s family said: “Chris cannot be hurt anymore, we and all those who loved him will always remember the way he lived and not the way he died.”