Wife of Ryan Lowry recalls last conversation with her husband as inquest opens into axe attack death

A 'lovely and kind' foster dad killed in an axe attack in the street by his mentally ill cousin whom he helped care for told his wife just hours before his death 'Don't worry he won't hurt me', an inquest has been told.

It comes as a jury were asked to consider whether there may have been 'opportunities that were missed to protect the life of Ryan Lowry' as his widow highlighted concerns over how his killer Ashley Glennon was managed by agencies.

Mr Glennon, also known as Ashley Rowen who was then 32, was on the phone to the police as as he chased Ryan, 36, out of his home in Partington, Trafford, and delivered a 'number of blows' with the axe on Moss Lane in the early hours of February 28, 2020.

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Emergency services attended and he was declared dead at the scene by paramedics. After being charged with murder, Mr Glennon pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, a plea that was accepted by the prosecution. He was sentenced in January 2021 to an indefinite hospital order.

Today (Monday, March 4) an inquest into Ryan's death, which is being heard before a jury, opened at Stockport Coroner's Court. Jurors were told that Ryan and Mr Glennon grew up together that their 'families were close' and that 'they were friends.'

Ryan worked alongside his cousin, who had a tree surgery business, and had recently set up his own tree stump grinding business which worked closely with Mr Glennon's operation. The inquest was told Ryan also acted in an unofficial capacity as 'something of a carer' for Mr Glennon.

There were tears from some of Ryan's family members as messages between the pair, including one in which he said 'I love you bro, but I'm worried about you.' Mr Glennon had