05/09/01 - Beast's fight to go free
NICOLA PORTER
The Mirror

CAGED sex monster Howard Hughes is taking his bid for freedom to the European Court of Human Rights, the Welsh Mirror can reveal.

The twisted child killer, serving three life sentences, still says he is innocent of the brutal rape and murder of tragic Sophie Hook. He snatched the pretty seven-year-old as she slept in a tent at her uncle's home in Llandudno, north Wales, six years ago.

Since then he has been fighting his conviction from his maximum security jail cell. Yesterday Hughes, 41, had his latest appeal bid squashed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission but his lawyer said last night he would not be giving up his fight to clear his name.

Campbell Malone added: "This isn't the end of the road. If Hughes can't get to the Court of Appeal in Britain he will go to Europe." The judge at Chester Crown Court during Hughes' trial recommended he remained behind bars for the rest of his life.