Dealers found guilty of murder after addict tried to ‘tax’ them

JORDAN DOWNS AND PAUL SIMMONS WILL BE SENTENCED LATER THIS YEAR 15:26, 21 May 2025 Two drug dealers have been found guilty of murder after an addict who tried to ‘tax’ them was stabbed to

death. Michael McCann died after plotting to steal drugs from Jordan Downs and Paul Simmons. But he was fatally stabbed during an ensuing fracas in the street in Bolton. Downs picked up a

knife from the kitchen of Simmons’ flat before the confrontation, using it to stab 35-year-old Mr McCann to the leg. Simmons emerged from the flat armed with a wooden stick and became

involved in a struggle with Mr McCann. Downs, 32, denied killing Mr McCann, but was found guilty of murder. Simmons, who claimed he was acting in self-defence, was also convicted of murder.

Mr McCann died two days after the incident in Bolton on June 7 last year. Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Mr McCann, a ‘regular user of heroin and crack cocaine’, told friends he was

‘going to tax some drug dealers’. Prosecutor Eloise Marshall KC said ‘tax’ was slang for stealing drugs. Christian Legg, one of the two men, called Simmons and arranged to buy some drugs

from him. He firstly asked for £10 of crack cocaine and £5 of heroin, said to be his ‘usual’ order. Mr Legg arrived and was £4.50 short of the agreed fee. He was allowed to leave with £10

worth of crack cocaine. About ten minutes later he called back and asked for £75 worth of drugs. Simmons and Downs, who was said to be ‘assisting him [Simmons] in his drug dealing’, became

suspicious. Both men, who lived together in a flat on Bradford Street with Simmons’ girlfriend, Kelly Hughes, went to meet Mr Legg, and both armed themselves. Mr Simmons had a wooden stick,

which he kept in the flat for ‘protection’, and Mr Downs picked up a knife, Ms Marshall said. As they walked downstairs from the flat, Mr McCann was hidden behind some bins. Mr Legge was

bending down as if he was getting money from his shoe, and appeared to be taking a ‘long time’. Mr McCann emerged, with a witness claiming he was armed with a knife. Mr McCann shouted ‘give

me the bits’, while Simmons replied ‘am I f***’. Mr McCann continued: “Make it simple and hand me the bits over.” “No,” he replied. Mr Simmons hit him with the wooden stick, knocking the

knife out of Mr McCann’s hands. The pair then became involved in a struggle, ‘grabbing and grappling’ each other. Simmons ‘got the better of him’ and held Mr McCann in a ‘headlock’. The

struggle moved from behind the block of flats to an alleyway. As he was being held, Downs stabbed Mr McCann to the back of his left leg. Ms Hughes ‘ran off’ to get help. When she returned

she saw Simmons and Downs ‘drenched in blood’, Ms Marshall said. The two men and Ms Hughes returned to the flat. Mr Downs said: “I think I’ve killed him.” Downs called his mother and told

her he’d stabbed someone, jurors were told. A member of the public saw Mr McCann in the street saying ‘you’ve stabbed me’ and ‘you’ve killed me’. An ambulance was called at 7.15pm. He was

rushed to Salford Royal Hospital but never regained consciousness. He died in the early hours of June 9. Police arrived at the scene and discovered a ‘series of bloody footsteps’ which led

them to the flat on Bradford Street. Downs and Simmons were arrested there after 9pm. After being cautioned, Downs said: “I was lucky that Paul jumped in. Good job I had good mates to

protect me.” Simmons said: “I had a knife. He was hiding behind the bins. I was defending myself.” At the police station, jurors were told that Simmons said: “Some s***head pulled a knife on

me and I defended myself. “There was nothing wrong with him when I left. McCann, I think he is called. There’s cameras behind there anyway to prove I’m innocent.” After being charged with

murder, Simmons said: “Murder? What do you mean, murder?” Simmons replied ‘no comment’ to questions in his police interview. Mr Downs said he ‘had no idea’ what happened to Mr McCann. He

said he didn’t know Mr McCann but heard he was a ‘f****** lunatic’. Jurors heard that at the time of his death, Mr McCann was living with two brothers, Jason and Thomas Aspinall. Jason

Aspinall said Mr McCann regularly used heroin and crack cocaine, and that he carried knives which he kept down his trousers. Paramedics discovered that Mr McCann had a knife hidden in his

trousers when they assisted him. “Jason says Mr McCann had told him he would use knives to tax drug dealers and steal from them,” Ms Marshall said. Simmons was said to be ‘supplying drugs on

behalf of another dealer’. Downs had lived with the couple for about six weeks. Ms Hughes claimed that Mr McCann had tried to ‘rob’ Downs and Simmons before. “It is the Crown’s case that Mr

Simmons and Mr Downs’ actions resulted in the death of Mr McCann,” She said Mr McCann was ‘unarmed’ and ‘unable to fight back’. Article continues below After nine hours and 41 minutes of

deliberations, jurors found both Simmons, of Bradford Street, Bolton, and Downs, of no fixed address, guilty of murder by a majority. Downs was also convicted of perverting the course of

justice, by disposing of a kitchen knife, by a majority verdict. The pair will be sentenced on July 2. Both were remanded into custody. As he was led to the cells, Downs shouted: “It’s all

f***ing wrong” and banged on the walls of the wooden dock.