Josh Baxter denied that he wanted to hurt Mr Barron when asked about the messages
Carrington Walker and Andrew Bardsley Court reporter
17:11, 09 Jan 2026
A man accused of killing his Grindr date claims he never intended to harm him, saying the explicit messages they traded beforehand were part of a sexual “fantasy” which included 'rape role play'.
Josh Baxter, 28, arranged to meet Michael Barron for sex after the two connected on the dating app in January last year. Thirty-eight-year-old Barron travelled to Baxter’s home in Blackley, north Manchester, for the encounter.
Barron was later discovered dead in the flat on January 26, having suffered cerebral hypoxia, a lack of oxygen to the brain, followed by cardiac arrest. Prosecutors claim Baxter strangled and choked him with enough force to fracture both cartilage and a bone, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Mr Baxter, on trial at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, denies manslaughter. During proceedings, jurors heard he had told Mr Barron in messages that he liked it 'rough', and asked if he would let him 'choke him, tie him up, pull his hair, spit on him, call him names, get him so drunk he was weak and defenceless and punch him'.
He had also asked if Mr Barron would 'do rape role play', the court heard, and had been told by his date that he liked to be ‘tied, gagged, hooded, totally helpless’ as well as 'pain and torture'.
Mr Baxter, giving evidence in his defence for the first time in the trial, denied that he wanted to hurt Mr Barron when asked about the messages.
Under questioning from his barrister Louise Sweet KC, he described his messaging as ‘fantasy’ and ‘role play’. Mr Baxter told jurors that he had got up at about noon that day and wasn’t working.
The trial continues...