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Father Convicted of Murdering Chereiss Bailey After Body Found in West Bromwich Canal
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A father has been convicted of murdering 36-year-old Chereiss Bailey after a three-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, while his daughter was convicted of helping conceal the crime and preventing a lawful burial.
John Anslow, 65, was found guilty of murder and of preventing the lawful and decent burial of Bailey.
His daughter, Hayley-Marie Ferguson, 42, was convicted of assisting an offender and preventing the lawful and decent burial of Bailey's body.
The verdicts bring the trial to an end, although both defendants are still awaiting sentencing. Anslow had already pleaded guilty to the burial-related offence before the murder trial concluded.
The case began after Bailey's body was discovered in a canal near Ryders Green Road in West Bromwich in October 2025.
Chereiss Bailey Was Last Seen Entering Anslow's Home
The events leading to Bailey's death began on September 27, 2025, when she met Anslow on Great Bridge Street in West Bromwich.
According to West Midlands Police, CCTV footage showed Bailey entering Anslow's home on Stour Street later that day.
Evidence presented during the subsequent investigation established that Bailey was killed inside the property.
Police described the attack as traumatic, while prosecutors presented evidence concerning the circumstances of her death during the trial.
The precise events inside the property became an important part of the prosecution case.
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Anslow Called His Daughter After Bailey's Death
The morning after Bailey entered his home, Anslow cancelled visits from his community carers.
Police said he then contacted his daughter, Ferguson, for assistance.
Ferguson subsequently travelled to her father's address by taxi carrying paving slabs. She reportedly told the taxi driver that she was helping her father with gardening.
Investigators later concluded that the slabs had a very different purpose.
The prosecution case was that Ferguson became involved in helping her father conceal what had happened to Bailey.
CCTV Helped Investigators Reconstruct What Happened
One of the most significant pieces of evidence was CCTV footage.
According to West Midlands Police, footage showed Anslow and Ferguson moving Bailey's body away from the property during the early hours of September 29, 2025.
Anslow pushed the body in his distinctive wheelchair, which had bright orange wheels, while Ferguson walked alongside him.
The pair travelled in the direction of Ryders Green Road before disposing of Bailey's body in a section of the canal network known locally as “Eight Locks.”
Images recovered from Ferguson's phone also formed part of the evidence presented to investigators.
The evidence allowed police to piece together movements that might otherwise have been difficult to establish.
Bailey's Body Was Discovered Days Later
On October 4, 2025, police received information from a member of the public that a woman had been killed and that her body had been disposed of in the canal network around Great Bridge.
Officers immediately launched an investigation.
Three days later, on October 7, Bailey's body was recovered from the canal near Ryders Green Road.
Police said her remains were submerged with paving slabs attached using washing-line cord.
The discovery transformed what had initially been a report of a possible killing into a major homicide investigation.
Blood-Stained Clothing Led Police to Ferguson
As detectives worked to identify those responsible, officers went to Ferguson's home on Heronville Road in West Bromwich.
There, they found clothing described by police as suspected blood-stained clothing inside a wheelie bin.
Ferguson was arrested.
Police said she subsequently made significant comments while in custody, after which her father was also arrested.
The investigation eventually resulted in both father and daughter being prosecuted for their respective roles.
What Each Defendant Was Convicted Of
The two defendants did not face identical charges.
John Anslow was convicted of:
- Murdering Chereiss Bailey
- Preventing the lawful and decent burial of Bailey's body
Anslow had already pleaded guilty to the burial offence before the conclusion of the murder trial. He had denied murdering Bailey.
Hayley-Marie Ferguson was convicted of:
- Assisting an offender
- Preventing the lawful and decent burial of Bailey's body
Ferguson was not charged with Bailey's murder. Her convictions concerned her alleged involvement after Bailey's death and the concealment and disposal of the body.
That distinction is important because the two convictions reflect different findings about each defendant's role.
Police Said Anslow Had Presented Himself as Vulnerable
Following the verdict, Detective Inspector Michelle Cordell of the West Midlands Police Homicide Unit described the case as particularly disturbing.
She said Anslow had presented himself as a vulnerable wheelchair user with extremely limited mobility, while investigators believed the evidence demonstrated otherwise.
Cordell described Bailey as a vulnerable woman who was deeply loved by her family and said investigators might never know what motivated Anslow to attack her.
She also praised the investigation team for gathering and presenting the evidence that ultimately led to the convictions.
Chereiss Bailey Remembered by Her Family
For Bailey's relatives, the court verdict cannot undo the loss of a woman they described as central to their family.
In a statement released through police, her family described Chereiss as a much-loved daughter, sister, mother, auntie, granddaughter and friend.
They remembered her as someone with a huge personality and a beautiful heart.
Her family also spoke about the impact of her death on her young son, saying he had been deprived of growing up with his mother.
They said they would make sure he understood who his mother was, how much she loved him and how deeply she was loved by those around her.
The family specifically asked that Chereiss be remembered for her personality, kindness, humor and love rather than solely for the circumstances surrounding her death.
The Investigation Shows the Importance of CCTV Evidence
One of the clearest lessons from the case is the role modern investigative evidence can play in reconstructing a crime.
Police were able to combine information from a public tip, searches of a suspect's property, CCTV footage and images recovered from a phone.
No single piece of evidence necessarily tells an entire story. Investigators can instead build a timeline by comparing different sources of information and testing them against one another.
In this case, CCTV footage was particularly important because it helped establish movements before and after Bailey's death.
What Happens Next?
The convictions do not mark the absolute end of the legal proceedings.
Anslow and Ferguson are due to be sentenced at a later date.
Sentencing will determine the penalties imposed for the offences for which each defendant has been convicted.
The verdict also provides Bailey's family with a measure of legal resolution after months of investigation and a lengthy court process, although no court outcome can erase their loss.
Remembering Chereiss Beyond the Crime
Stories involving murder often become dominated by the most disturbing details of the investigation.
But Bailey's family's tribute offers another way of understanding the person at the center of the case.
Chereiss was a mother, daughter, sister, aunt, granddaughter and friend. Her relatives have emphasized her personality, humor, kindness and the relationships she built during her life.
For those who knew her, those are the memories that remain after the headlines disappear.
Editor's Note
This article reports on convictions handed down following a three-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court. Information about the investigation, CCTV evidence and the defendants' roles is based primarily on statements from West Midlands Police and contemporaneous court reporting.
John Anslow was convicted of murdering Chereiss Bailey and had previously pleaded guilty to preventing her lawful and decent burial. Hayley-Marie Ferguson was convicted of assisting an offender and preventing a lawful burial.
Details of the physical circumstances surrounding Bailey's death have been limited to information necessary to explain the case, out of respect for Bailey and her family.
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