‘Habitual vigilante’ streamed hunt for stolen car before fatal Townsville crash
The alleged murder of a young aspiring policewoman horrifically played out live on Facebook as the man accused of killing her, a “habitual vigilante”, attempted to ram a car thief off the road at speed, court documents reveal.
Police & Courts
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The alleged murder of young aspiring policewoman Jennifer Board horrifically played out live on Facebook as the man accused of killing her – a “habitual vigilante” whose “sole focus in life” was hunting car thieves – attempted to ram one off the road at speed, court documents reveal.
Bail documents obtained by The Sunday Mail also reveal Christopher Michael Hughes has had his licence suspended or disqualified 10 times since 2012 and was frequently found driving around Townsville exhibiting “vigilante” behaviour.
Ms Board, 22, was riding her motorcycle along Ross River Rd in Townsville on the evening of February 5, 2021, when she was struck by Mr Hughes’ Holden Statesman.
Mr Hughes, 25, was allegedly chasing a stolen Hyundai ix35 when he lost control attempting to ram it at 120km/h.
His car became airborne and hit Ms Board who was travelling in the opposite direction.
In the car with him was his girlfriend Chelsea Dare and friend Jason Cousens, who were both streaming the chase to a Facebook messenger chat group of “vigilantes”.
Neither have been charged over the incident.
The documents reveal Mr Hughes was unemployed and had spent the past 18 months as an “active member of an underworld vigilante group operating within the Townsville community”.
“Through investigations carried out, the defendant’s role can be described as an instigator,” one police affidavit detailed.
“He is well known throughout this group as he regularly ‘patrols’ the streets of Townsville late at night for stolen vehicles and encourages others to carry out patrols also.
“The defendant recruits other members of the community who have been victims of the current property crime epidemic.”
Ms Board’s death happened at a time when young recidivist offenders were wreaking havoc in the North Queensland regional city – breaking into houses and stealing cars.
Locals were venting their frustrations on community Facebook groups dedicated to crime – including one where victims of car theft would post photographs of their stolen vehicles.
The court documents reveal Mr Hughes was monitoring these groups to find cars that had been stolen before searching the town for those vehicles.
“He is heavily involved and is vocal on a number of Townsville community crime Facebook pages promoting vigilante action, using the community’s frustration to incite anger and action against property crime offenders, despite knowing the majority of them are indigenous youths,” the affidavit said.
The documents reveal that Mr Hughes was incensed by the recidivist property offenders – and so began dangerously chasing them in order to ram them off the road.
“If anything, the defendant’s regular behaviour is one that is continually putting the community at risk,” police said in court documents.
Police allege Mr Hughes was part of a Facebook Messenger group chat called MOB where members shared information that helped them track stolen cars.
On the night Ms Board was killed, Mr Hughes, his girlfriend and friend, were driving around Townsville attempting to find a stolen silver Hyundai ix35.
Mr Hughes, Ms Dare and Mr Cousens spotted the Hyundai in Rasmussen and gave chase, but soon lost sight of the stolen car, the documents allege.
At 9.59pm, Mr Hughes pulled his Holden into the carpark of Zarrafas on Riverway Dr at Condon where he “laid in wait for the incoming stolen Hyundai”.
One minute later, the Hyundai drove by. Police allege Mr Hughes immediately gave chase, his movements picked up on two different CCTV cameras.
Cameras continued to capture the Holden as it sped along Riverway Dr, with Mr Hughes weaving around other cars in an attempt to catch the Hyundai.
The Hyundai turned right at Ross River Rd on a red light, the Holden doing the same, police allege.
As this was happening, police allege Ms Dare and Mr Cousens were streaming live to the Facebook messenger chat group.
“Evidence provided also confirmed that at the time the defendant was pursuing the Hyundai, and at the time of the crash, Chelsea Rose Dare and Jason Anthony Cousens were both broadcasting a ‘video chat’ for others to directly listen in to and (were) providing status updates directly into the chat,” court documents allege.
Just minutes before the Holden hit Ms Board, Ms Dare posted a message into the live feed that said: “We just got a rock thrown at us.”
A minute later she wrote: “We need backup.”
And then: “They f … ing baited us the c …”
At the same time, those in the chat heard Mr Cousens shout: “It’s the stolen Hyundai that threw something!”
According to the documents, witnesses from the chat heard Mr Cousens scream: “We’ve been hit and we have crashed.”
One witness, who then rushed to the scene of the crash, told police he heard Ms Dare scream: “We’ve hit a motorbike rider and I think we’ve killed her.”
At the scene, police allege Mr Hughes told a paramedic he had been travelling at 60km/h when he hit Ms Board and that he hadn’t been out for any particular reason – just to “fill in time”.
It is alleged he asked a friend to take the dashcam from his car.
The following day, he allegedly retrieved the SD card and snapped it in half.
The bail documents say the three occupants of the stolen Hyundai were found by police and interviewed.
They told police the Holden chased them and tried to “ram” them over a prolonged period on the night Ms Board was killed.
“They have gone so far as to personally identify the defendant and his Holden Statesman as a habitual vigilante who regularly chases them when they are engaging in their own recidivist property offending,” a police affidavit states.
Police have alleged Mr Hughes was speeding at 134km/h in a 60km/h zone as he chased the Hyundai along Ross River Rd. The Holden was travelling at 118km/h when it became airborne and struck Ms Board.
Mr Hughes, who is charged with murder, was denied bail in a sitting of the Supreme Court in Townsville last month.
Ms Board’s sister Siana posted a heart wrenching video of Jennifer playing piano the following day and wrote: “Jen doesn’t get to apply for bail, or a lesser sentence or even defend herself. She never gets to play the piano again, or see her family for Christmas. She never gets to blink again, to make mistakes or to learn from them. She never even had an accident before.”
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