Ashley Crowder of Farnworth, Bolton has been found guilty of murder and other related offences having held his victim, Graham Cox, hostage at his flat in order to drain his bank account of almost £1200 received as benefit payments. Mukul Chawla KC and Rachel Shenton of 18 St John Street Chambers prosecuted the trial which took place at Bolton Crown Court.
Graham Cox’s body was discovered in March 2024 by police answering a 999 call from a member of the public alerting them to the presence of a body in Ashley Crowder’s flat in Farnworth. He had suffered very extensive external and internal injuries caused over a period of some four weeks including numerous broken ribs and fractures to his larynx typically caused by strangulation. Graham Cox was extremely vulnerable having suffered a stroke in 2023 which left him with limited mobility and having then been made homeless after his flat was ransacked and rendered uninhabitable. Following an extensive pathological review of the injuries, Ashley Crowder was charged in November 2025.
Mukul Chawla KC and Rachel Shenton of 18 St John Street Chambers prosecuted the trial, which took place at Bolton Crown Court over almost five weeks before the Honorary Recorder of Bolton, HHJ Nicholas Clarke KC. They were instructed by Nicola Wells, a Senior Crown Prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service.
On Wednesday (June 17), the jury found Ashley Crowder guilty on all counts that he faced of murder, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and four counts of theft. The defendant will be sentenced on 29 July 2026.
Reports from The Manchester Evening News on the case can be found here:
For more information on Mukul Chawla KC, Rachel Shenton and the Criminal Department at 18 St John Street Chambers, please visit www.18sjs.com or contact our Senior Criminal Clerk James Hotchin.