The body of Chereiss Bailey, aged 36, was found in a canal near Ryders Green Road in West Bromwich after she was violently killed, pushed in a wheelchair, and dumped in the water tied to paving slabs, a court has been told.
Opening the case at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday, August 17, prosecutor Michael Duck KC said Ms Bailey, from Tipton, was last seen alive on September 27 last year. She had been working as a sex worker and was leading what he described as 'something of a chaotic lifestyle'.
Violent Attack and Death
Mr Duck told the jury that Ms Bailey died as a result of a violent attack at the home of John Anslow, aged 65, of Stour Street, West Bromwich. During the attack, she sustained facial fractures and bruises on many parts of her body. She was ultimately strangled and very likely bitten to intimate parts of her body.
Anslow stands trial accused of murder, which he denies. However, he has pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful and decent burial of a dead body.
Body Treated with 'Utter Disdain'
The prosecutor said that following her killing, Ms Bailey's body was treated with 'utter disdain'. In the early hours of the morning after the killing, she was placed into a wheelchair and wheeled from Anslow's home address. The body was moved somewhere between 600 and 800 metres to the edge of a canal bank and pushed into the water.
Mr Duck added that Ms Bailey was 'weighed down by paving slabs' attached with twine, to prevent her body being found.
CCTV Evidence and Defendants
The court heard there is 'no dispute' that three people captured on CCTV moving towards the canal were the dead body of Ms Bailey in the wheelchair, along with Anslow pushing her and his daughter Hayley-marie Ferguson walking beside them.
Ferguson, aged 42, of Heronville Road, West Bromwich, also stands trial denying the burial prevention offence as well as assisting an offender by disposing of evidence.
Defence Claims and Trial Continues
Summarising Anslow's expected defence case, Mr Duck told the court: "It maybe that it's suggested by John Anslow that far from murdering Chereiss Bailey that this was something of an accident. He engaged the services of Chereiss Bailey, she had attempted to take something from him - namely a wallet - he sought to get it back, there had been a fight and he tried to resist her violence, and in doing so entangled a garment around her neck."
In relation to Ferguson, the prosecutor stated she is likely to claim she subsequently helped her father because he threatened her with violence and therefore she 'acted under direct instruction in absolute fear of him'. Mr Duck added: "Those maybe the last, desperate attempts to explain away the evidence in this case."
He further told the jury that Anslow and Ferguson had thus far demonstrated 'extraordinary loyalty to each other', but added it 'may start to disintegrate' as the evidence is presented. The trial continues.
