Two charged in garden death probe

Ashley Bowman was shot in the head at close range

Police investigating the murder of a 17-year-old have charged two people with possessing a sawn-off shotgun.

Ashley Bowman was found in the garden of a house in Bryony Close, Woodhouse Park, Wythenshawe, Manchester, on 18 July. He had been shot in the head.

Michael Roper, 21, of Pembury Close, Wythenshawe and Hayley Smirk, 21, of Mottershead Road, Wythenshawe, are due before Manchester magistrates later.

Ashley's family say he was a "lovely lad with a bubbly personality".

In a statement released after his death his family said: "We are at a total and utter loss as to why this has happened to such a well liked and much loved person."

Ashley, from Exmoor Walk, Newall Green, Manchester, died in hospital, two days after the shooting.