Killer grandson ‘let down by everybody’

THE grandad of a man who knifed a labourer from Gwynedd to death said his grandson was “totally let down by everybody” at the start of an inquest.

Phillip Owen, 42, from Caernarfon, was killed by 25-year-old Ashley Bosson in 2016 after they met in a bar in Greater Manchester.

An inquest is now taking place to examine the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Owen, who was living in Urmston, Trafford, at the time of his death. Bosson was convicted of 42-yearold Mr Owen’s manslaughter after a trial and was sentenced by a judge to an indefinite hospital order, reports the Manchester Evening News.

At the start of the inquest, which is set to last four days, Bosson’s grandad said he believed his grandson was “totally let down by everybody” in terms of support over his mental health.

Joseph Malpus said his grandson should have been “where he is now” years ago.

Mr Owen, described by his mother at the inquest as “a bit of a wanderer”, had spent the night before his death drinking with friends in Urmston.

He met Bosson in a bar and they went back to his flat above a hair salon on Gloucester Road in the early hours of October 30, 2016.

The inquest at Stockport Coroner’s Court heard his body was found later that evening.

He had been stabbed once in the neck with what is believed to have been a kitchen knife, police said.

The court heard he had previously served a custodial sentence for “trying to strangle” his mother.

Mr Owen’s mother Antoinette Chambers told coroner Alison Mutch: “Phillip was a very lovely child. As he grew up he was very, very gentle – very kind.”

The inquest continues.