Michael Duck KC and Sharon Bahia instructed by the West Midlands Complex casework Unit successfully prosecuted John Anslow for Murder, and his daughter Hayley Ferguson for offences of preventing an unlawful burial and assisting an offender. Anslow murdered Chereiss Bailey, a sex worker, at his home address after what appeared to be an afternoon chance meeting in Great Bridge, Tipton town centre. She was subjected, by him, to a ferocious attack which led to two fractures of the jaw, significant bruising over her entire body and internal injuries to her vagina . She was ultimately strangled to death.
Following the Murder Anslow made a phone call to his daughter Ferguson who attended his address in possession of two paving slabs. The Prosecution case was that she assisted in the clean up and then left to attend a Peaky Blinders night out. She returned 14 hours later and together with her Father dressed Cherries Bailey in male clothing before they both took her body in his wheelchair to great locks canal. There they stripped her, ensured the paving slabs were securely tied around her waist in order to weigh her down, and disposed of her body in the canal.
Ferguson then transported and disposed of Chereiss’ bloodied clothing in her refuge bin. She returned to the deposition site with her young children, throwing rubbish on top of the area in which the body had been thrown. Ferguson then sought assistance from a family friend to remove the remaining slabs from her garden. She told him of the location of the body in the canal and her role in the disposal. He informed the police and the investigation began.
Dad and daughter who dumped body in canal convicted – BBC News
Father and daughter convicted after woman dumped in West Bromwich canal – West Midlands Police
