Overview

• Connor pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility at Preston Crown Court and was made subject to a restricted hospital order under the Mental Health Act at Guild Lodge.
• The order means she will remain in secure psychiatric care unless authorities authorise her discharge based on clinical assessment and public protection.
• Police found Crowther’s body on January 14 after reports of a smell at the Church, Lancashire flat, where Connor immediately told officers she had killed her friend.
• Post‑mortem findings recorded multiple stab wounds, with prosecutors noting Connor used crack cocaine on the night, while medical experts said she remained severely unwell independent of substances.
• Lancashire Police has referred its prior January 3 contact with Crowther to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, as the victim had called reporting that Connor had a knife earlier that day, and her children delivered victim impact statements describing profound grief.