Dad struggled with addiction after crash, ex-wife tells jury

Donald Patience was found at the bottom of his stairs, a jury has heard

A dad who died in a "dosshouse" became addicted to alcohol and painkillers after a car accident, a murder trial has heard.

Donald 'Prentice' Patience, 45, was found dead at his home on Ainsworth Road in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, on 22 August after reports of a burglary.

Police found Ian Connell, 39, outside with Mr Patience's white labradoodle.

Mr Connell, on trial at Manchester Crown Court, denies murder.

Mr Connell told the officers Mr Patience was away in Scotland and had given him permission by phone to force entry because he needed his dog walking.

The prosecution suggested that was the first of "many lies" from Mr Connell, who at some point from 19 August allegedly strangled Mr Patience after a row about money.

He then "callously" went about his day-to-day life, as his victim's body lay decomposing underneath a pink duvet cover at the bottom of the stairs, the court heard.

The jury was also told that Mr Connell was among a number of people who preyed on Mr Patience's "good nature" to borrow cash.

On Thursday, the court heard more details about the life of Mr Patience, who was known to his family and friends by his middle name, Prentice.

He was born in Alness, Scotland, and graduated from Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University as an actuary in 2001.

Floral tributes were left near the home in Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe

He worked in statistical analysis for pensions but became unwell from the "high pressure job" and spent a short time in a Priory clinic.

Mr Patience moved to Greater Manchester in around 2005 and set up a Domino's pizza restaurant franchise in Bury with one of his brothers, jurors were told.

In a statement read to the court, his ex-wife Kirsty Banks said she met him while working there and they married in 2012 and had three children.

Ms Banks said "Prent" had a car accident in 2015 which left him temporarily unable to work.

She said he "started to drink more" and eventually became "addicted to painkillers".

The pair argued when Mr Patience later refused her pleas for him return to work, she said.

Mr Patience moved out of the family home in Bamburgh Close, Radcliffe, when she asked him to leave after Christmas 2017, the court heard.

He later moved into the couple's former home in Ainsworth Road, which they had been renting out.

Ms Banks said her ex-husband began "hanging around" with a former tenant called Neil Flannery, who she thought was "dodgy".

She said: "I blame Flannery for everything that happened to Prent. It was Flannery who introduced Connell to Prent and all the other people he associated with.

"Flannery latched on to Prent. Prent never hid the fact that he had money. He was very open about it."

'Like a dosshouse'

She said the house "absolutely stank of cannabis" when she visited in July 2022. She said: "I told Prent he needed to sort himself out."

A former Domino's colleague, Paul Parker, who visited Mr Patience in March 2023, described the inside of the house as a "mess".

Describing Mr Patience as "looking homeless", he told the court: "It looked like a dosshouse. I could see there was writing on the walls in the two receptions rooms."

Mr Parker also said the recent death of Mr Patience's father, who lived in Scotland and had Huntington's disease, "hit Prentice hard".

Mr Flannery told the court he was a friend of Mr Patience and visited him regularly after he moved out, but added: "We had not as much contact in recent times and that was really because of the people Prentice was hanging around with and the things they were doing."

He said he thought Mr Connell was homeless and at some point ended up living at Ainsworth Road, but believed he was no longer living there as of about three weeks before Mr Patience died.

A witness statement was also read out from Glen Denning, an associate of Mr Connell, who said the pair would take drugs together and that Mr Connell would regularly get money from a man he called his "boss".

He recalled an occasion when Mr Connell complained he was no longer receiving cash from that man.

Mr Connell, of Duke Street, Bolton, has also pleaded not guilty to an alternative count of manslaughter.

The trial continues.