A man has been convicted of murder after holding his victim captive in his flat for a fortnight before emptying his bank account. Ashley Crowder, 36, is due to be sentenced next month following his conviction by a jury at trial for the killing of Graham Cox, 37.
Guilty Verdict
On Wednesday (June 17), jurors found Crowder guilty of murder; assault occasioning actual bodily harm; and four counts of theft. Bolton Crown Court heard that Mr Cox was discovered on March 4, 2024 lying on a sofa, his body concealed beneath a blanket.
Paramedics reported he was 'cold to the touch' and that there were signs of 'rigor mortis'. He had been beaten to death and his bank account had been drained.
Victim's Ordeal
Mr Cox reported that he had gone 14 days without food, reports the Manchester Evening News. When officers attended his flat on Barton Walk, Farnworth, Crowder claimed Mr Cox had suffered a fall several days earlier and sustained a 'bleed on the brain'. He informed officers he was 'just about to phone the ambulance'. Crowder denied physically and financially 'abusing' Mr Cox in the weeks preceding his death, the precise date of which remains unknown.
Jurors were told that Mr Cox had been in a 'pitiful state' of health for 'some months' prior to his death. His residence on St James Street, Farnworth, had been uninhabitable for several weeks. He was described as 'vulnerable' due to his drug addiction and existing medical conditions. The Crown alleged that Mr Cox was compelled to surrender benefits payments he received to Crowder, whom prosecutors claimed 'beat and strangled [Mr] Cox to death'.
Mr Cox died as a result of sustained 'blunt force physical assaults'.
Escape and Testimony
The court was told that Mr Cox attended a support centre claiming he had been held hostage by Crowder at his flat for the preceding 14 days and that he had been subjected to attacks. He stated he managed to flee the flat through a window before making his way to the UCAN centre in Farnworth, which he regularly visited to seek assistance. He alleged that Crowder had forced him to surrender his benefits money.
Melanie Livesey, a Bolton councillor who was also present at the UCAN Centre that day, said Mr Cox was 'visibly shaking from head to toe'. 'His first words were \'I\'m really sorry to bother you, I\'ve been kidnapped. I\'ve not had nothing to eat or drink for 14 days\'," she said in a statement read to jurors. "He looked scared, tired and in pain. We gave him six mince pies. He ate them all immediately. It was evident he was starving. My thoughts were \'what the bl**** hell has happened to you?\'."
Mr Cox subsequently attended hospital and spoke with police. "He [Mr Cox] said he had met a friend that he knew, an old friend," said Jed Leck, who worked at the centre. "The friend had advised him that he didn\'t look well. Ashley took Graham home. Graham told me he ran him a bath and fed him. Graham said the following morning he felt safe and Ashley had been nice to him to begin with. Ashley had asked Graham for some money and said he would go and get some more food. The following day Ashley had asked Graham for some more money to go and get some more food."
"However Graham told Ashley he had no more money. This is when Ashley changed and started to batter him. I was quite taken aback when he told me he had been there for 14 days."
Mr Leck stated that Mr Cox's clothing was 'really dirty' and that he was wearing a dressing gown and tracksuit trousers. "I believe all his clothes were quite dirty and had been worn for some time," he said. "He was just in a bad condition, he was in a dirty condition. It was more the wounds and bruises was something we hadn\'t really seen before at the centre. He was black and blue with cuts, which isn\'t what we saw of Graham."
"He [Mr Cox] advised me that Mr Crowder was trying to keep him at his place of residence until Graham received his next benefit payment, which was on a Monday. Graham also further advised me that he had been able to escape through a window when Mr Crowder had fallen asleep. I believe it was a living room window. In that moment, in that situation, I couldn\'t actually see how Graham could have got through a window. His walking was very slow. The use of his arm was restricted."
"The story in all felt, it\'s not unbelievable I\'m looking for because in the end I did believe what I had been told. It seemed very dramatic, is the word I\'m looking for."
Sentencing
Crowder, of Barton Walk, Farnworth, will be sentenced on 29 July.
