Donald "Don" Ashton was a client of Mike Baldwin's in June 1985. Mike paid £4,000 cash for Don's bankrupt denim and had several glasses of Scotch with Mike before celebrating in the Rovers Return Inn. When an inebriated Don left, he forgot his suitcase of cash and on the journey home, ended up fatally crashing into the canal. However, Mike discovered the order hadn't gone through - he had no proof that the £4,000 wasn't his. Mrs Ashton told Det Constable Meadows that Don should have had a lot of money on him, but Mike claimed he didn't give him any money.