BIRMINGHAM — A father and daughter have been convicted after a sex worker was murdered and her body dumped in a canal in the West Midlands.
Chereiss Bailey was found dead near a waterway off Ryders Green Road in West Bromwich in October last year. Police said John Anslow, 65, assaulted her in his home before he and his daughter, Hayley-Marie Ferguson, 42, used a wheelchair and a washing line with paving slabs attached to submerge her body in the water.
Anslow denied murder but was found guilty after a three-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court. Ferguson was convicted of assisting an offender and preventing a lawful and decent burial. Sentencing will take place later.
Court heard Bailey was last seen after meeting Anslow on Great Bridge Street
The trial began with evidence that Bailey was last seen on the afternoon of 27 September. Police said CCTV showed her going into Anslow’s home on Stour Street in West Bromwich that day after the pair met on Great Bridge Street.
West Midlands Police said her body was found on 7 October. Prosecutor Michael Duck KC told jurors that Bailey lived alone in Tipton and was a vulnerable person who had been leading what he described as a chaotic lifestyle.
He said she had sometimes worked as a sex worker in the area. The court also heard that, while it was not possible to know every detail of what happened inside the property, the evidence suggested she was attacked in Anslow’s bedroom.
Prosecutors said the attack caused fatal injuries before the pair hid the body
Duck told the court that Bailey suffered facial fractures, bruising across her body and was ultimately strangled. He added that she was very likely bitten to intimate parts of her body during the attack.
Police said the assault led to her death. They described how, the following morning, Anslow cancelled his community carers and contacted his daughter for help.
Ferguson travelled to her father’s address in a taxi carrying slabs. She claimed she was helping with work in the garden, West Midlands Police said.
CCTV captured the pair moving the body in a distinctive wheelchair
Ferguson returned in the early hours of 29 September. Police said CCTV then recorded the pair moving Bailey’s body in Anslow’s distinctive wheelchair.
The force added that they used a washing line with paving slabs attached to help sink the body in the canal locally known as eight locks. Investigators said the location was off Ryders Green Road in West Bromwich.
The case has prompted distress for Bailey’s family, who paid tribute to her in court proceedings and described her as a much-loved daughter, sister, mother, auntie, granddaughter and friend.
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