Overview
- Cheryl Bartley, 48, was charged by the Crown Prosecution Service on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, over the drowning death of Robert Smith, 61, during a baptism in Erdington.
- Bartley, released on bail, is due at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, May 14, as the CPS warns the public not to post or share material that could prejudice the proceedings.
- West Midlands Police say a post-mortem recorded drowning, and ambulance crews delivered advanced life support before Smith was pronounced dead at the scene.
- The ceremony, conducted by Life Changing Ministries, took place in a small paddling pool in a private garden and was livestreamed on Facebook before the feed was cut and later removed.
- Smith was a Brixton barber who had been a member of the ministry for four years, and church posts said he had been living with Parkinson’s disease.