Josh Baxter, 28, was found not guilty of manslaughter but guilty of intentional strangulation and unlawfully inflicting grievous bodily harm following the death of Michael Barron, 38, in Manchester.
A man has been acquitted of killing his Grindr date following a ‘high-risk’ sexual encounter. Josh Baxter, 28, was charged with the death of 38-year-old Michael Barron after Mr Barron visited Baxter’s flat in Blackley, North Manchester.
The pair had exchanged explicit messages before meeting for the first time, during which Baxter tied up Mr Barron in his bed with rope. Prosecutors claimed that Baxter strangled Mr Barron so forcefully that he fractured a bone and cartilage.
Mr Barron, originally from Ireland, died from a cardiac arrest due to oxygen deprivation to the brain. Baxter denied manslaughter charges. He refuted any intention to harm Mr Barron, stating that his death was accidental.
His barrister argued that the evidence indicated Mr Barron’s death was ‘inevitably due to alcohol poisoning’, reports the Manchester Evening News.
After their sexual encounter, Baxter ordered a takeaway on Deliveroo, messaged several other men on Grindr, and searched Google: “If you accidentally kill someone by strangling them in sex do you go to prison.”
Baxter pleaded not guilty to manslaughter; intentional strangulation or suffocation; and unlawfully inflicting grievous bodily harm. He was acquitted of manslaughter but found guilty of intentional strangulation or suffocation, and unlawfully inflicting grievous bodily harm. The verdicts were delivered after jurors at Minshull Street Crown Court deliberated for over nine hours.
Anne Whyte KC, prosecuting, told the court that Baxter had ‘quite specific sexual interests’, which he disclosed to Mr Barron in a Grindr message after they made contact. In the message, Baxter said he liked it ‘rough’ and asked if Mr Barron would let him ‘choke him, tie him up, pull his hair, spit on him, call him names, get him so drunk he was weak and defenceless and punch him’. He also asked if Mr Barron would ‘do rape role play’.
“In other words, Josh Baxter was sexually motivated by high-risk sexual activity,” Ms Whyte KC stated. During their exchanges, Baxter and Mr Barron discussed their sexual preferences, with Mr Barron indicating that he liked to be ‘tied, gagged, hooded, totally helpless’ and that he enjoyed ‘pain and torture’.
Ms Whyte said: “We can see Mr Baxter telling Mr Barron that when he got to Mr Baxter’s flat, Mr Barron would start drinking vodka until he was so drunk he could barely walk. Mr Baxter said he would then strip him and start raping and abusing him. Mr Barron consented to that and said Mr Baxter could force feed him vodka as well.”
Baxter said Mr Barron arrived at his flat at 4.27pm. They discussed ‘general things’, including their favourite films. The pair then moved on to talking about sex and what their ‘limits’ were. Baxter claimed Mr Barron stated he did not want a ‘safe word’.
Prosecutors argued that whilst Mr Barron had consented to certain acts, it was ‘no defence’ if Baxter anticipated the risk that his actions could restrict Mr Barron’s breathing and potentially cause him serious harm.
“We suggest he foresaw the risk, and unreasonably took it precisely because the risks and control involved were part of the very specific sexual activity that he wanted to engage in,” Ms Whyte KC told the court.
In her closing address, Louise Sweet KC, representing Baxter, stated: “He [Mr Baxter] says if there is any possibility that he contributed to Mr Barron’s death, it was not intended by him, and never did he imagine in a million years that he would come to harm, and therefore it was not reckless,” Ms Sweet said.
Following Mr Barron’s arrival at the property, both men were shown to have attempted to obtain Ketamine before visiting a shop to purchase additional alcohol. Mr Barron’s mobile phone was last used at 5.45pm for a brief call to a drug dealer, the court heard.
From 7pm to 7.56pm, Baxter also ceased using his phone, and prosecutors suggested it can be ‘reasonably inferred’ that sexual activity took place during this period. The court was told that Baxter restrained Mr Barron face-down on his bed and positioned himself on top of him for a ‘prolonged period’.
Ms Whyte stated: “He was choked at some stage, it would appear as though he was restrained by his wrists and ankles face down throughout the sexual activity. We know from the police search at the scene that the sex involved the use of a makeshift mask on Mr Barron.”
At 7.56pm, Baxter messaged other Grindr users while Mr Barron remained restrained, lying on the bed. Baxter noticed Mr Barron’s face turning purple, but hearing snoring, he assumed Mr Barron wasn’t ‘in trouble medically’. Around 9pm, Baxter ordered two chicken burgers, fries and onion rings via Deliveroo.
After collecting the food from downstairs, Baxter observed Mr Barron’s face had turned a ‘deep purple’ and he could no longer hear any snoring. He conducted online searches, including ‘purple face while sleeping’; ‘how to tell if someone is alive’; and ‘how to tell if someone is breathing’.
He dialled 999 and was instructed to perform CPR on Mr Barron. In the early hours of January 27, he searched ‘is it illegal to f*** someone in their sleep even if you have their consent’ and ‘if you accidentally kill someone by strangling them during sex do you go to prison’.
In his testimony, Baxter insisted the chats were ‘fantasy’ and he never intended to harm Mr Barron. When questioned about choking, he said: “I never saw it as a dangerous activity.”
He maintained the injury had been inflicted accidentally. Discussing the online searches conducted by Baxter, Ms Sweet argued he was experiencing ‘real trauma’.
“There is no normal reaction, only shock, disbelief, anxiety, numbness, fear,” she explained. “He was scared about what people would think of what he and Mr Barron had been doing.”
She described how his flatmate characterised him as ‘shy’ and a ‘bit of a geek’. “He loves gaming, he goes out with his mum, he goes to bingo with his mum,” she told the court.
“Nobody has a bad word to say about him.”
Ms Sweet urged jurors: “We invite you to conclude he is not guilty and committed no crime and did not contribute in any way to Mr Barron’s death. It was an accident and he is a good man – a bit of a geek, but not a criminal.”
Baxter, from Lakeside Rise in Blackley, faces sentencing next month. He has been remanded in custody.
