John Anslow and his daughter Hayley-Marie Ferguson have been convicted after the body of Chereiss Bailey was weighed down with paving slabs and dumped in a canal in West Bromwich.
Anslow, 65, was found guilty of murdering the 36-year-old and preventing her lawful burial following a three-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court. Ferguson, 42, was convicted of assisting an offender and preventing a lawful burial.
Ms Bailey was last seen alive on CCTV entering Anslow’s home on 27 September 2025, after meeting him on Great Bridge Street. Police said she was subjected to a traumatic assault inside the property which led to her death.
The following morning, Anslow cancelled visits from his community carers and contacted Ferguson for help. She travelled to the house by taxi with paving slabs, telling others she was going to assist her father with gardening.
Ferguson later attended a Peaky Blinders-themed event before returning to Anslow’s address in the early hours of 29 September. CCTV footage and images recovered from her phone showed the pair wheeling Ms Bailey’s body away from the house.
Anslow pushed the wheelchair, which had distinctive bright orange wheels, while Ferguson walked alongside him towards Ryders Green Road. The body was then dumped in the canal known locally as Eight Locks.
Ms Bailey was found submerged in the canal on 7 October with washing-line cord attached to paving slabs. The discovery followed a report from a member of the public that a woman had been killed and “disposed of” in the canal network at Great Bridge.
West Midlands Police officers later searched Ferguson’s home in Heronville Road and found suspected blood-stained clothing in a wheelie bin. She was arrested, and Anslow was detained after comments she made while in custody.
Anslow had pleaded guilty before the trial to preventing the lawful and decent burial of Ms Bailey’s body. Both defendants are due to be sentenced at a later date.
Family pay tribute to Chereiss Bailey
Ms Bailey’s family described her as a much-loved daughter, sister, mother, aunt, granddaughter and friend, saying she had “a huge personality, a beautiful heart and a way of making her presence known wherever she went”.
“Life was never quiet when Chereiss was around, and we would give absolutely anything to have that noise back,” they said.
The family said the most heartbreaking part of her death was knowing how much life she had left to live, adding that her young son had been “robbed of growing up with his mum beside him”.
They said they wanted her to be remembered for her smile, humour, kindness and love for her family.
Detective Inspector Michelle Cordell, of West Midlands Police’s Homicide Unit, said Anslow had presented himself as a vulnerable wheelchair user with extremely limited mobility but was “in fact a violent predator”.
She said Ferguson had also presented herself as having limited mobility, but evidence during the investigation showed otherwise.
“Chereiss was killed in John Anslow’s home and we may never know what motivated him to commit such an awful attack on a woman,” Detective Inspector Cordell said.
She added that Anslow had cancelled his carers after the killing and enlisted his daughter’s help in concealing the crime, describing the disposal of Ms Bailey’s body as a “sickening plot”.
