Christopher Linton was attacked in 2008. He survived, but suffered a fatal stroke in 2023, which was deemed to be directly linked to the assault years earlier. Following an inquest, his family’s wait for answers goes on.
Christopher Linton as a child with his mum Tracey Mcleod(Image: Tracey Mcleod)
In the clinical expanse of a courtroom, a grief-stricken mother begged for answers. Across from her, a young woman sobbed in the witness box as she wiped tears from her cheek.
As the family of Christopher Linton, a senior detective and a coroner watched on, Tracey Mcleod cried: “Just do the right thing, please. I’m begging you. I just can’t take it anymore.”
Her son was the victim of an ‘unprovoked’ attack in October 2008. He was stabbed in the neck and died nearly 15 years later aged 40 from medical complications directly linked to the assault.
The identity of the person who wielded the blade is still not known. Exactly what happened that night remains unclear, with ‘missed opportunities’ in the police investigation into his death.
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An inquest was held in an attempt to establish the precise circumstances surrounding the attack – and who was responsible. Many details are still not known.
After senior coroner Joanne Kearsley recorded an unlawful killing conclusion, Greater Manchester Police reaffirmed its commitment to Mr Linton’s loved ones as their wait for answers goes on.
Here, Amy Walker and Chris Slater look back at the case in depth…
Night out ends in ‘unprovoked’ attack
In 2008, Christopher ‘Chris’ Linton, was 25, single and worked as a mechanic in Ramsbottom. He had a passion for cars and bikes.
“He was cheeky, he was cheerful, he would do anything for anyone”, mum Ms Mcleod said. He would ‘fix cars for a few cans of beer and a packet of cigarettes’, she added.
“He was the life and soul of the party, my diamond, blue eyed boy.”
At around 9.45pm on October 4, Mr Linton met up with a friend for a drink at the Fairfield pub in Bury. He played pool with pals and spoke to his friend’s dad.
At around 12.30am, they got a taxi to the Derby Arms. They stayed there until around closing time – 1.45am.
Chris with his mum Tracey(Image: Supplied)
Mr Linton left the pub and walked up Bolton Road, past a Blockbuster store, before stopping at outside a takeaway. He then saw two teenage girls walk past.
Mr Linton wolf whistled at them. The girls approached a car parked nearby. A man let them in. Mr Linton had no idea he was about to become the victim of an ‘unprovoked’ attack. He was stabbed in the neck as he leant in one of the car’s windows.
Around 10 minutes later, he staggered back into the Derby Arms clutching his neck, covered in blood. Mr Linton was rushed to Fairfield General Hospital for emergency surgery to the left side of his neck. There were no other injuries except the one-inch wound.
Medics told him his left facial artery had been damaged. Mr Linton was discharged two days later.
As a police investigation began, it become clear the two girls may have witnessed something horrific. Their evidence would be crucial.
‘Something to remember me by’
On October 8, Mr Linton gave a statement to police, telling officers: “I recollect seeing two girls. I then wolf whistled at them and they turned and smiled at me.
“I was unsure whether to approach, but then I thought ‘I’ve done nothing wrong’. I only wanted to talk to the two girls in the car.
“All of a sudden they hit at my neck and then I heard him saying something like ‘there’s something to remember me by’. I just held my neck and said ‘s***, s***’ and went back to the pub.
“The last thing I remember were people trying to help. The next thing I remember is the surgeon taking my clothes in the hospital.”
Mr Linton later suffered swelling at the wound site and was left with impaired taste and tongue weakness. By March 2009, the swelling had grown, with an MRI scan confirming a large pseudo-aneurism in the left carotid artery.
A stent was fitted, alleviating the aneurism. His life could continue as normal, though he was at risk of blood clotting and strokes.
‘They are coming back for me mum’
Mr Linton’s mum said he went back to work, adding: “He was a workaholic and good at his job.” By then, Mr Linton had a partner and had become a father.
But the psychological scars from the attack – and the effect on his mental health was – was ‘bad’. Ms Mcleod said the family would ‘get phone calls to say he had taken some tablets’ and once had to break into his house when he didn’t answer the phone.
She said Mr Linton ‘started walking around with his [motorbike] helmet on’ and that he would phone family members when he left the house to visit them and ‘wouldn’t put it down until he arrived’.
“He was petrified,” Ms Mcleod added. She said he told her: “They are coming back for me mum, I know they are.”
Christopher Linton(Image: Supplied)
Coroner Ms Kearsley would later say that ‘no-one being held to account and lacking any explanation as to why he had been assaulted had taken its toll on his mental health’.
Meanwhile, key names of ‘potential witnesses and suspects’ were put forward to GMP – including Codie Lomax and Megan Horrocks. It would transpire those were the two girls Mr Linton saw getting into the car before he was knifed.
Other names given to police, the inquest heard, were James Clarke and Stephen Shepherd. ‘Other suggestions over time have evolved’, with the names John Grimshaw and John Lamb also given to detectives, Ms Kearsley told Rochdale Coroners’ Court.
Police approached Ms Horrocks, then 15, and Ms Lomax, then 18. Ms Horrocks didn’t provide a statement. The inquest heard Ms Lomax told police that ‘a male started to hassle [her] and Megan’.
She said that as they ran away, a car stopped and someone asked if they were okay. The court heard she told officers they got into the vehicle before the front seat passenger got out, argued with the man and punched him in the head.
Ms Lomax could only give a description of the front seat passenger – male, white, around 18-years-old and skinny. No further leads were established and the case was closed in February 2010. That was until nearly 13 years later.
‘I don’t know who was in that car’
Despite no previous symptoms, Mr Linton suffered a ‘massive’ stroke on May 28, 2023. Two days later, on May 30, he died – 14 years, seven months and 22 days on from the attack.
Greater Manchester Police launched a murder investigation as coronial proceedings began. On Monday (September 22), Mr Linton’s inquest was held over two days.
Ms Kearsley said that ‘while Christopher survived the assault, he was lucky to do so’. Pathologist Dr Charles Wilson said: “I have seen many cases where people have died [immediately] from injuries almost identical to that stab wound.”
The stroke Mr Linton suffered was potentially caused by long-standing clots near the stent in his neck, which had ‘broken off’. The pathologist said that if Mr Linton ‘hadn’t needed a stent, there was no reason for him to have developed a blood clot’.
Dr Wilson said there was a ‘chain of causation’ and that the ‘fatal stroke was a complication of the damage caused by the stab wound’.
Ms Kearsley told the court no blame would be apportioned as a result on the inquest and that witnesses Ms Horrocks and Ms Lomax were not considered to have had ‘any direct involvement’ in the attack on Mr Linton and were not being linked with his death.
First called to give evidence was Ms Horrocks. As Mr Linton’s family watched on, she gave evidence via videolink from another room in the building.
Christopher Linton(Image: Supplied)
She was questioned by the coroner on who she believed was in the car that night. Members of Mr Linton’s family were visibly emotional as she repeatedly said she ‘didn’t know’; that she didn’t recall much of the night; and that she didn’t want to give any information she wasn’t ‘100 per cent sure on’.
Ms Lomax, at one point, said she was ‘too scared’ to give information. “Are you telling me, yourself and Codie Lomax, within seconds of someone walking behind you, got into a car with two strangers?,” Ms Kearsley asked. “Are you asking me to believe that?”
“I don’t know who was in that car,” Ms Horrocks said. Ms Kearsley continued: “I am going to put it to you that you think you know who was in that car. I think you are scared to give that information. Would that be right?”
After a long pause Ms Horrocks said: “I don’t want to answer it.” Ms Kearsley pressed: “Are you not answering this question because you’re too scared? Meghan are you scared?”
She replied: “I don’t recall a lot of the night. Of course, I would be scared, I cannot understand how the family feel. It’s not been easy for myself at all. I have not slept.”
Following a break, Ms Mcleod was asked if she had any questions for Ms Horrocks. “She’s a mum, so she must know how it feels,” she implored. “I need help, please. That’s all I am going to say.”
Ms Kearsley said it was clear Ms Horrocks had witnessed the ‘horrendous incident’ and she ‘has lived and continues to live with an obvious fear being in such a position can bring’.
She ultimately concluded she could place ‘little weight’ on Ms Horrocks’ evidence. Ms Kearsley said her answers, when asked if she knew people ‘of interest’ to police, were ‘unconvincing’.
“In fact, her whole demeanour suggested the opposite,” said Ms Kearsley.
‘I feel awful… really bad’
The following day, Ms Lomax gave evidence. She said she had ‘blocked out’ the attack and couldn’t remember the details. “Did you realise something serious had happened?,” Ms Kearsley asked.
Crying, Ms Lomax replied: “I know something serious happened, obviously it was very likely. I feel awful, I feel really bad. I know it’s not my fault…. now I’m a bit emotional like… f*****g hell I’ve not thought about it for that long. It’s all I really remember. I feel guilty, I feel bad.”
She said she didn’t remember Mr Linton hassling them or being aggressive. She said she didn’t know the people in the car.
“Would you agree it is not normal to go out at night and get into a stranger’s car?,” Ms Kearsley asked. “Pretty much yeah,” she replied.
“They must have recognised… we would have just got into a random car. I don’t know. It was a normal thing for us to do, to go with random lads. It must have parked up or were chatting to us. I can’t tell you why we got into the car. They must have seemed familiar for us to go with.”
Mr Linton (centre) with his mum Tracey (right) and dad John (left)(Image: Supplied)
Ms Kearsley asked: “If you had gone into a complete stranger’s car, who, after two seconds, stabbed somebody – would you not have tried to get out of that car and run?”
The witness replied: “At that moment in time that was normal, it wasn’t something to be fearful of. We chilled with lads who were like that. Violence sometimes was just a part of life. It was part of the kind of boys we chose to hang around with.”
Ms Lomax accepted Stephen Shepherd was her boyfriend at the time and James Clarke was his cousin.
It would later be revealed Ms Horrocks and Ms Lomax were named in an insurance claim. The claim stated there was a spillage on a petrol station forecourt and that as a result, a car skidded and crashed. The occupants sought recompense from the business, the court heard.
Also named in the claim were Stephen Shepherd and James Clarke, the inquest was told. In court, both women denied knowledge of the claim.
‘We know you are frightened… we just need the names’
Ms Mcleod was later offered the opportunity to ask Ms Lomax questions.
“I’m begging you, I’m a mother with a family,” she sobbed. “My son has a young son. He left him behind. He has to grow up with no father. I’m asking you to give the names.”
In tears, Ms Lomax said: “Literally I would give the names, I would.”
Ms Mcleod added: “We know you are frightened. We just need the names, please we are begging. People like that should not be on the streets.
“I can’t take this anymore. Just do the right thing, please. I’m begging you. I just can’t take it anymore. I can’t sleep. Tell them who did it, please. I’m sorry.”
Interjecting, Ms Kearsley asked: “Do you know the names?”
“No, I don’t,” said Ms Lomax. Ms Kearsley would later conclude the account she gave in court about the assault was ‘honest’, but said her evidence suggesting she didn’t know the people in the car was ‘utterly unconvincing’.
‘Missed opportunities’
During the inquest, it was revealed there were ‘missed opportunities’ in the initial investigation into the assault.
The statement Mr Linton made was jotted down in an officer’s notebook. Blood taken from the scene was not analysed and his clothing was returned, instead of being kept as evidence.
CCTV from outside the Derby Arms pub was not recovered and there was no recording of a statement made by an unidentified woman who named the front seat passenger of the car as ‘Clarkey’ or ‘Sheba’.
A man named James Clarke, in Forest Bank prison, was interviewed in 2009. While the recording of the interview was of ‘poor quality’, he denied involvement. There was nothing to suggest anyone called Stephen Shepherd was spoken to, the court heard.
Christopher Linton(Image: GMP)
While a media appeal for information was launched, Detective Inspector Alex Wilkinson said at the time police were keen to speak to anyone who could help.
Summarising her findings, Ms Kearsley said she was satisfied Mr Linton was the victim of an ‘unprovoked and violent assault’. She said there was no evidence to suggest he had been ‘inappropriate’ or led Ms Lomax or Ms Horrocks to be ‘scared or concerned’.
Ms Kearsley said Ms Horrocks and Ms Lomax were ‘brave’ in attending court, but added: “I am equally satisfied that whatever courage they found in attending court sadly did not continue through their evidence. Only they know the reason for this.”
Addressing Mr Linton’s family, the coroner said: “I am sure they would agree with me when I say the fear that one or two violent thugs can put into the larger community, large groups of people or individuals has no place in this society.
“There are more people out there who know what happened to Chris than those two young girls. One hopes that 17 years on, other people can find the courage and bravery to come forward and be honest about what happened that night.”
Following the two-day hearing, Ms Kearsley recorded an ‘unlawful killing’ conclusion. “I am satisfied that on October 4, 2008, Christopher Linton was the victim of an unprovoked and violent assault whereupon he was stabbed in the neck,” she said. “I am satisfied the assault was an unlawful act and amounted to unreasonable and excessive force.
“Whilst Chris did not succumb to the injury at the time, all the medical evidence concludes there is a direct causative link between the injury and his death in 2023.”
“I need to be able to look at a photo of Chris and say ‘it’s over, rest in peace now'”
Following the inquest, a spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: “We are once again appealing to the public for any information that may assist in identifying those responsible. Even the smallest detail could prove crucial in helping us bring closure to Christopher’s family and ensure those responsible are held to account.
“Anyone with information is urged to contact us. There is also a Major Incident Public Portal where information, photos and video can be uploaded – it can be found here.
“Information can be reported by calling 101 or anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. You can also use the reporting tools on our website.”
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Mrs McLeod said: “Since we’ve come out of court, it’s knocked the family. I couldn’t go out for a bit. There was no talking in the house.
“We need some kind of peace. It’s gone on that long, it’s horrendous. We need closure. It’s making us so poorly. I’m nearly having a nervous breakdown. Our mental health has been crushed.
“We need names now. We need justice for Chris and for the family. To give us some closure. We need peace. I need to be able to look at a photo of Chris and say, ‘it’s over, sweet, rest in peace now’.
“He needs justice, we need justice. We hope one day we will get it.’