Ashley Crowder, 36, has been found guilty of murder after holding his victim hostage at his flat for two weeks and draining his bank account. The conviction was delivered by a jury at Bolton Crown Court on Wednesday, June 17, following a trial into the death of 37-year-old Graham Cox.
Crowder was also found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and four counts of theft. The court heard that Mr Cox was discovered on March 4, 2024, lying on a sofa with a blanket covering his body. Paramedics reported that he was 'cold to the touch' with signs of rigor mortis. He had been beaten to death, and his bank account had been emptied. Mr Cox had reportedly gone 14 days without food.
Details of the Case
When officers attended Crowder's flat on Barton Walk, Farnworth, Crowder claimed that Mr Cox had fallen days earlier and suffered a 'bleed on the brain'. He stated he was 'just about to phone the ambulance'. Crowder denied physically and financially abusing Mr Cox in the weeks before his death, the exact date of which remains unknown.
The jury heard that Mr Cox had been in a 'pitiful state' of health for 'some months' prior to his death. His home on St James Street, Farnworth, had been uninhabitable for some weeks. He was described as 'vulnerable' due to being a drug addict with medical conditions. The Crown alleged that Crowder forced Mr Cox to hand over his benefits and beat and strangled him to death, with the cause being 'blunt force physical assaults'.
Escape and Testimony
The court heard that Mr Cox attended a support centre, claiming he had been held hostage by Crowder for 14 days and attacked. He escaped through a window while Crowder slept and went to the UCAN centre in Farnworth, where he regularly sought help. He stated that Crowder forced him to hand over his benefits money.
Melanie Livesey, a Bolton councillor at the UCAN centre that day, described Mr Cox as 'visibly shaking from head to toe'. In a statement read to jurors, she recalled his first words: 'I'm really sorry to bother you, I've been kidnapped. I've not had nothing to eat or drink for 14 days.' She added, 'He looked scared, tired and in pain. We gave him six mince pies. He ate them all immediately. It was evident he was starving.'
Jed Leck, a worker at the centre, testified that Mr Cox said he had met an old friend, Crowder, who initially seemed kind, running him a bath and feeding him. However, when Mr Cox had no more money to give, Crowder changed and started to beat him. Mr Leck noted that Mr Cox's clothes were 'really dirty' and he was in a 'bad condition', covered in bruises and cuts.
Mr Leck further stated, 'The story in all felt... very dramatic. But in the end, I did believe what I had been told.'
Sentencing
Crowder, of Barton Walk, Farnworth, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29.
