The Murder of Kelly Anne Bates

On 17th april 1996, James Patterson Smith walked into a police station in Manchester, England and confessed to killing his girlfriend Kelly Anne Bates, claiming that they had been in an argument in the bath and she had accidentally swallowed bath water, and died despite his attempts to resuscitate her.

When police arrived at Smith’s address however the scene painted a somewhat different picture. Kelly’s blood was found in every room of the house, her naked and bloodied body was found in a bedroom and a later post-mortem revealed over 150 separate injuries. During the last month of her life she had been kept bound in the house, sometimes tied by her hair to radiators or chairs, and at other times with a ligature around her neck. William Lawler, the Home Office pathologist who examined her body, said: "In my career, I have examined almost 600 victims of homicide but I have never come across injuries so extensive." The injuries included: scalding to her buttocks and left leg;

burns on her thigh caused by the application of a hot iron;

a fractured arm;

multiple stab wounds caused by knives, forks and scissors;

stab wounds inside her mouth;

crush injuries to both hands;

mutilation of her ears, nose, eyebrows, mouth, lips and genitalia;

wounds caused by a spade and pruning shears; \

both eyes gouged out;

later stab wounds to the empty eye sockets;

partial scalping.

The pathologist determined that her eyes had been removed "not less than five days and not more than three weeks before her death". She had been starved, losing around 20 kg in weight, and had not received water for several days before her death

Smith had an extensive history of violence. He was an unemployed divorcee living in Gorton, 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. 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 statutory rape 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.

Wednesday 19th December 1997, the jury took one hour to convict 49-year old Smith of murder. The judge sentenced him to life in prison to serve a minimum of 20 years.