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Kelly Anne Bates (18 May 1978 – 16 April 1996) was a British teenager who was murdered in Manchester on 16 April 1996 when aged 17. She was tortured over a period of four weeks, including having her eyes gouged from their sockets up to three weeks before her death, by her partner James Patterson Smith (born c. 1948) before being drowned in a bathtub. The murder inquiry was headed by Detective Sergeant Joseph Monaghan of Greater Manchester Police, who said: "I have been in the police force for 15 years and have never seen a case as horrific as this." William Lawler, the pathologist who examined Bates' body, described her injuries as "the worst he had seen on a murder victim".〔 Smith, a misogynist with a history of violence and torture against former lovers, denied murdering Bates but was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on 19 November 1997. ==Background== James Smith was an unemployed divorcé living in the Gorton area of Manchester. Described by acquaintances as "house-proud and well-groomed", he was a teetotaller and non-smoker.〔 His marriage had ended after ten years in 1980 due to his violence towards his wife.〔 He had then commenced an affair between 1980–1982 with 20-year-old Tina Watson, whom he "used as a punch-bag", even subjecting her to severe beatings while she was pregnant with his child.〔〔 She said: "At first it was now and again; just a little tap. But in the end it was every day. He would smack me in the face or hit me over the head with an ashtray. He would kick me in the legs or between the legs." Watson managed to escape from the relationship, during which Smith had also attempted to drown her while she was bathing.〔 In 1982 Smith then began a relationship with 15-year-old Wendy Mottershead, who was also a victim of his violence.〔 In one attack he held her head under water in the kitchen sink in an attempt to drown her.〔〔〔 In 1993, Smith began another relationship with Kelly Bates while she was only 14 years old, having met her while she was babysitting for friends. Approximately two years later, when she left school, Bates moved in with Smith at his home in Furnival Road, Gorton. She had concealed the relationship from her parents.〔〔 Bates' mother said of her first meeting with Smith after the two began living together: "As soon as I saw Smith the hairs on the back of my neck went up. I tried everything I could to get Kelly Anne away from him." Although she had left Smith briefly because of arguments, in November 1995 she was once more living with him in Furnival Road. Her parents had noticed bruising which she explained away as the results of accidents.〔 She became increasingly withdrawn and in December 1995 resigned from her part-time job. In March 1996 her parents received cards purportedly from her for their anniversary and a birthday, although only Smith had written in them. When Bates' brother tried to see her at the house, Smith said she was not at home. When a concerned neighbour asked after her, she was briefly shown at an upstairs window.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Murder of Kelly Anne Bates」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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