Speeches in case of pair accused dumping corpse in West Bromwich canal
Pair accused of putting body in West Bromwich canal
The jury has heard closing speeches in the case of a man and woman accused of dumping the body of an alleged murder victim in a West Bromwich canal.
The decomposing body of 36-year-old Chereisse Bailey, of Tipton ,was found in the Walsall Canal off Ryders Green Road in West Bromwich on October 7 last year.
An occasional sex worker, she was last seen on September 27.
On Friday the jury heard closing speeches form barristers representing the defendants. The jury at Birmingham Crown Court has heard 65-year-old John Anslow was responsible for killing her in a violent attack, likely to have been in a bedroom at his home, in Stour Street, Greets Green.
His daughter 42-year-old Hayley-Marie Ferguson, of Heronville Road also West Bromwich, is accused of helping to dress and wheel Miss Bailey’s corpse in a wheelchair before tipping her into the water.
Anslow, a wheelchair user, denies murdering Miss Bailey who had been strangled, had facial fractures, bruising to many parts of her body and was likely to have been bitten. He has pleaded guilty to a charge of preventing a lawful and decent burial.
Ferguson is not on trial for murder and has pleaded not guilty to a charge of preventing a lawful and decent burial, and not guilty to a charge of assisting an offender.
The trial continues.