Margaret Bates: Last News

direct to your inboxStaff and customers at Tesco in Hattersley have paid tribute to a colleague who 'brought a smile to so many people' at her checkout - despite a life blighted by a terrible tragedy.Margaret Bates, from Mottram in Tameside, died in hospital just before Christmas after a long period of ill-health. She was 65.Her daughter Kelly-Anne was just 17 when her much older boyfriend James Smith drowned her in a bathtub in 1996.Over the three weeks leading up to her murder, he had tortured her and stabbed her in the mouth, face and body while she pleaded in vain for her life.Smith, then 49, was handed a life sentence with a minimum 25 years behind bars.

The mum of a teenager who was brutally drowned in a bathtub 24 years ago has died.

direct to your inboxTributes have been paid to the mother of murdered teenager Kelly-Ann Bates, who has died after a long battle with illness.Supermarket worker Margaret Bates, from Mottram in Tameside, passed away in hospital just before Christmas. She was 65.Leading tributes to her today, her husband Tommy said his beloved late wife always 'wanted to go back with Kelly'.Kelly-Anne was just 17 when her much older boyfriend James Smith drowned her in a bathtub in 1996.Over the three weeks leading up to her murder he had tortured her and stabbed her in the mouth, face and body while she pleaded in vain for her life.Smith, then 49, got life imprisonment and must serve a minimum of 25 years behind bars.