Nearly three years after a 61-year-old church member drowned during a baptism ceremony in Birmingham, England, the leading pastor of the congregation has been formally charged with criminal manslaughter by gross negligence, British prosecutors confirmed this week.
The victim, Robert Smith, a 61-year-old resident of Brixton, London, passed away on October 8, 2023, after the incident unfolded at a private residential property on Slade Road in the Erdington district of Birmingham. According to court documents and local law enforcement reports, Smith had traveled from his London home to Birmingham specifically for the baptism ceremony, and had been an active participant in Life Changing Ministries, the local congregation organizing the event, for four years prior to the tragedy.
The ceremony, which was held in a small custom-built pool on the property’s garden, was originally intended to be broadcast live to the congregation’s remote followers on the church’s official Facebook page. Witness and platform records confirm that the live stream was abruptly cut off mid-ceremony immediately after the drowning incident, and the recording was permanently removed from the platform shortly after.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced this past April 8, 2026 that 48-year-old Cheryl Bartley, the senior pastor of Life Changing Ministries who led the baptism and is a local Erdington resident, has been charged with one count of gross negligence manslaughter. Bartley is scheduled to make her first court appearance at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on May 14, where initial procedural hearings will begin to outline the prosecution’s case and set future trial dates.
Local law enforcement has not released additional details about the specific circumstances of the drowning, nor has the congregation released a public statement responding to the charges in the weeks leading up to the scheduled court appearance.