article: A mother whose teenage daughter was tortured to death by her sadistic lover has spoken for the first time of her heartbreak. Margaret Bates, from Mottram, Tameside, said she is still unable to read the autopsy report detailing the 150 injuries her 17-year-old daughter Kelly-Anne suffered at the hands of her violent lover James Smith. Too traumatised to speak about her only daughter's death until now, Mrs Bates, 60, said she is consumed by one thought - that she wished she had killed Smith when she first met him. Margaret and Tommy Bates are speaking about their daughter Kelly-Anne's brutal murder for the first time . Kelly-Anne Bates enjoys time with her friends . Mrs Bates, who has two sons, Andrew, 39, and Paul, 33, said: 'I know I shouldn’t say this, but I wish I’d killed him the first time I saw him. That way Kelly would still be alive.' Over three barbaric weeks, Smith burnt Kelly-Anne with an iron, scalded her with boiling water and even gouged out her eyes. Smith also tied her to a radiator by her hair, broke her arm and knees and stabbed her all over her body with knives, forks and scissors, causing 150 separate injuries before beating her with a shower head and drowning her in the bath. Throughout the horrific onslaught, the terrified teenager was alive, begging for mercy. Smith, who was then 49, got life imprisonment and must serve a minimum of 25 years for his horrific crimes. Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Kelly-Anne's death, but Mrs Bates said even with the passage of time, she and her husband Tommy, 66, are unable to read the post-mortem report which details the injuries their daughter endured. Flashback: Kelly-Anne and her mother Margaret on holiday in Barry Island, Wales . 'Every now and again, I phone the coroner to ask for the post-mortem report but each time I back out. I can't face it - I never will,' she said. Mrs Bates said as a little girl, Kelly-Anne was a tomboy who loved playing football with her friends. She also adored children, and often babysat for neighbours. She said: 'Kelly loved children and wanted to be a teacher. She was soft-hearted and very maternal.' Sadistic killer James Smith . At 14, while babysitting for a friend, Kelly-Anne met James Smith. He began a grooming process which was so secretive that her parents knew nothing about him for two years. When Kelly-Anne was 15, she stayed out over night and her panicked parents called the police. When she finally came home, the following morning, she claimed to have stayed over with a schoolfriend called Rachel. Mrs Bates said: 'I knew she was lying. It wasn't like her, but I'd no idea what was going on. 'Kelly was a good girl. As well as babysitting, she had a job on a market stall at weekends. She played hockey and she was clever at school. She was hard-working and sensible and I could never have dreamed she was being groomed by a monster.' She said Kelly-Anne once arrived home with a black eye and told her parents she had been attacked by a gang of girls in the street. Soon afterwards, Kelly-Anne announced she had a new boyfriend, James Smith, who she said was 32 years old. 'The first time I met him, he swaggered down the stairs and it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck,' said Mrs Bates. 'He was much older than I expected and this wasn’t the man I wanted for my daughter. I vividly recall seeing our bread knife in the kitchen and wanting to pick it up and stab him in the back. 'It was a bizarre thought - I would never normally think of anything so violent and now I wonder whether it was some sort of sixth sense. 'I’ve thought about that many times.' Kelly-Anne and her brothers Andrew and Paul have some fun on the beach . Margaret Bates said Kelly-Anne was very maternal and here the teenager feeds a baby . Margaret Bates and her only daughter Kelly-Anne as a baby . Mrs Bates called police and social services but because Kelly-Anne was 16 they could not help. She said: 'I didn’t know what do to. She was very strong-minded and she wouldn’t listen to me. And I was worried that, if I fell out with her, it would just push them closer together. 'One night she came home and her face was black and blue. Another time, her hand was bruised. I suspected Smith was hitting her, but Kelly-Anne denied it. 'I rang the police but they said there was nothing they could do without a statement from Kelly.' In November 1995, 17-year-old Kelly-Anne moved in with Smith who lived in Gorton, Manchester. Kelly-Anne gets to grips with crutches after injuring herself as a teenager . She spoke to her parents most weeks on the phone, when Smith was present, but never saw them again. Mrs Bates said: 'In addition to worrying about Kelly-Anne, our youngest son, Paul, was in hospital for weeks and I had a hernia operation too, so our lives were thrown into chaos. 'We even went round to Smith's address to try to persuade her to come home, but he was there all the time. The young Kelly-Anne smiles for the camera . 'On one visit he showed me a hole in his floor boards where he said he'd had a gas leak. 'Just a few weeks later, he kept Kelly prisoner in the hole while he tortured her.' Mrs Bates said she then discovered that Smith was 48 years old - 21 years older than Kelly-Anne. She said she pleaded with Kelly-Anne to leave him, but by now, Smith controlled all their contact. In the weeks before her death, Kelly-Anne endured unimaginable torture while her family - terrified of pushing her even further into Smith’s clutches - waited by the phone. 'In April, I got a Mother's Day card from Kelly in Smith's handwriting and I'd had enough,' she said. 'But I was torn; I didn't want to keep going round there because I thought it was making things worse. 'It haunts me to think if we had gone round there she would be alive today.' Mrs Bates said she contacted the police domestic violence unit and was encouraged to give her daughter its leaflets. Tragically, Mrs Bates was never to see Kelly-Anne again and said she still has the leaflets to this day. On April 16, 1996, Mrs Bates said police arrived to tell them that Kelly-Anne was dead. Kelly-Anne had been starved and had lost more than three stone in weight. Loving tribute: A floral tribute bearing Kelly-Anne's name at her funeral, which took place the day before her 18th birthday . Her body was so badly mutilated that police and pathologists said it was the worst case of abuse they had ever seen. The jury at Smith's trial was offered counselling due to the horrific details of the case. Kelly-Anne was buried the day before her 18th birthday. Smith was jailed for life in November 1997 and during the trial it emerged that he had a horrific history of violence towards women. Mr and Mrs Bates have now set up a local branch of the national support group Support After Murder or Manslaughter (SAMM) for other parents and have found some comfort in helping other families. 'I wish I had killed Smith myself,' added Mrs Bates. 'I want him to die just like Kelly did. Not a day goes by when I don’t think that. 'But he had her in his clutches and I couldn’t save her.' Flowers, cards and messages are piled up on Kelly-Anne's grave .
highlights: Margaret Bates is haunted by horrific murder of 17-year-old Kelly-Anne .
  Mum-of-three says she can't read autopsy report which details 150 injuries .
  Speaking for the first time after being left traumatised by death .
  Teen's boyfriend, James Smith, 49, was jailed for life after 1996 murder .
  Jury offered counselling after hearing of the youth's unimaginable ordeal .
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