Bolton man to be sentenced for Donald Patience murder in Radcliffe

Ian Connell, 39, was found guilty this week of murdering Donald Patience, 45, at his home on Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe in August.

Connell claimed he was Mr Patience’s friend and to have “loved him like a dad” but was convicted by the jury after a matter of hours at a trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Speaking after the verdict, CPS Senior Crown Prosecutor Richard Holliday said: “We will never know what happened in the house leading up to Mr Patience’s death or what Ian Connell’s motivation was for attacking the man he claimed to love like family.

He added: “My thoughts are with Mr Patience’s family and friends and all those who have been affected by his death at this time.”

Mr Patience was found dead at his home on Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe (Image: Newsquest)

The trial heard how Connell, of Duke Street in Bolton, had often stayed over at Mr Patience’s house taking Class A drugs in the period leading up to his death.

Connell was seen by police walking Mr Patience’s dog, a white labradoodle, on August 22 last year as Mr Patience lay dead, wrapped in a duvet at the bottom of the stairs in the house.

Police investigating the scene (Image: Newsquest)

Prosecutor Michael Hayton KC accused Connell of having strangled Mr Patience after the 45-year-old refused to continue supplying money to buy drugs.

The court heard how Mr Patience, “an educated man with his roots in Scotland” had access to family money and was often “taken advantage of” by Connell and others.

Connell was arrested and charged with Mr Patience’s murder, which he denied.

Alex Leach KC, defending, pointed out to the court that a least one other man was in the house.

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He said: "If it's right that Ian Connell was so dependent on Mr Patience for money, how does it make any sense for him to have done what the prosecution says he did?"

He added: "Do any of the financial motives in this case really drive you to the conclusion that the only explanation for Mr Patience's death is that Ian Connell had run out of goodwill so he killed him?”

But at the conclusion of the trial, the jury unanimously found Connell guilty of murder in a matter of hours.

Connell will be brought back before Mrs Justice Naomi Ellenbogen DBE on Wednesday March 6 to learn his sentence.