Police are reopening an investigation into the murder of a man who died 15 years after he was attacked in Bury
40 year-old Christopher passed away on 30 May 2023, after he was admitted to hospital a few days before. Ultimately his death however resulted from medical complications that are believed to be directly linked to an assault against him 15 years ago and from which he never fully recovered.
The assault took place in the early hours of the morning on Saturday 4 October 2008 when Chris left the Derby Arms Pub on Bolton Street in Bury.
Whilst walking along Bolton Road he met and got talking to two women, near the Blockbuster Video Store and Raja’s Indian Takeaway. The two women then got into a black car with two men and as Chris continued to speak to the women, he was stabbed in the neck by one of the men.
Chris sustained life-threatening injuries from this attack but managed to make his way back to the Derby Arms Pub to seek help from the occupants who gave him first aid and called an ambulance. Chris was then taken to hospital where he was given life-saving treatment.
Following this incident, an investigation was launched by GMP Bury CID and two men were subsequently arrested however no one was charged with the assault.
Following his death, a murder investigation was launched and police are now appealing to the public for information.
Christopher’s mother Tracey McLeod said: “My son Christopher, who liked to go by the name of Chris, lost his life on 30 May 2023 at Fairfield hospital when he was just 40 years old. Chris was kind-hearted and always put others before himself. He had a heart of gold, he was funny, loving, and most of all caring, and he had a fantastic personality.
Chris touched the heart strings of everyone who met him: family, friends, colleagues, and strangers. Chris had a son he loved so very much but now his son has lost his father. Chris was a son, grandson, nephew, brother, uncle, father and brother-in-law. His greatest achievement was becoming an RAC inspector, which he was very proud of and his family was incredibly proud of him.
Words cannot describe the pain and trauma that Chris’s death has had on our family. The pain and sadness is with us all day and night and it doesn’t go away. I am pleading as a mother for help from the public. Please help us as a family get some closure from the grief we are going through. Chris was brutally stabbed in the neck 15 years ago, and the people involved left my son for dead. This happened at the back of Blockbusters on Bolton Road. Please come forward with any information to help a devasted family and help my son Chris to rest in peace.”
