Couples are supposed to love and care for one another. But these men and women's relationships ended in violence and tragedy.
From the pensioner who stabbed his wife of 59 years to death to the mum who helped arrange the killing of her ex-husband, these killings all horrified Greater Manchester.
Research shows that women are far more likely than men to be murdered by an intimate partner. But for families who have lost a loved one - the pain doesn't change.
Some of these crimes were fuelled by abuse, others poor mental health, some by jealousy, resentment or drugs. Each left one partner fatally injured, and the other behind bars.
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Abid Mahmood
Abid Mahmood savagely stabbed his former partner to death in a 'planned and 'premeditated' attack in her own home.
Mahmood, 35, arrived at Tamby Dowling's house in Chadderton, Oldham, in a taxi before bursting through the front door, punching the 36-year-old then knifing her eight times. The couple had split up months earlier.
He spent about two-and-a-half minutes in the house during the killing on November 8, 2021, before getting back into the taxi. "I can hear screaming in my head, pray for me brother," Mahmood told the taxi driver after getting back in the car.
He later surrendered himself at a police station, and handed over the blood stained knife he'd used to kill Tamby, who was described as a 'beautiful, kind hearted soul'. He told an officer that he had felt 'like killing someone'.
Mahmood, who brought the knife to the scene, was described as looking 'demonic' at the time. Manchester Crown Court heard that he had suffered from 'extensive' mental health problems since he was a teenager and had been diagnosed with a schizophrenic disorder.
Mahmood pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and was ordered to serve a life sentence in jail. He must serve at least 10 years behind bars before he can be considered for release by the Parole Board.
Lesley Culley
Mum Lesley Culley killed her husband with a kitchen knife after he called her a ‘lazy bitch’ for not making a bed.
Culley, 58, took a kitchen knife and plunged it into Anthony Culley's chest after the argument escalated at their home in Unsworth Way, Oldham, on December 8, 2016.
When police arrived they found Mr Culley lying face down in a pool of blood, while Mrs Culley was sobbing in the bedroom. The weapon had been washed and returned to the kitchen.
It was just days before their 30th anniversary and, just hours earlier, the pair had dropped off food at the Old Bank pub in Oldham in preparation for their anniversary party - and Mrs Culley had been seen singing karaoke.
A judge ruled that Mrs Culley was suffering a ‘manic episode’ at the time of the attack, after a history of mental health problems and a life of ‘unimaginable tragedy’. She sobbed in the dock as she was jailed for six years after admitting manslaughter.
Andrew Wadsworth
Remorseless former cage fighter Andrew Wadsworth murdered his former partner Melissa Belshaw after bingeing on cocaine and alcohol.
Ms Belshaw's terrified daughter witnessed some of the brutal attack at the beautician's home in Wigan on May 20, 2020.
After stabbing the 32-year-old to death, Wadsworth then attempted to murder a neighbour who stepped in to help – and assaulted police who were called to the scene.
Wadsworth had spent the days prior to the murder at her home taking 'large quantities' of cocaine.
He had been 'badgering her to admit accusations of misconduct' before stabbing her multiple times in the bedroom of her home in Upholland Road, a court heard.
Wadsworth was ordered to serve a minimum of 32 years in prison after being convicted of murder and attempted murder at Manchester Crown Court.
Coleen Campbell
Mascara ran down Coleen Campbell's cheek as she heard her ex-husband's screams. She fought back tears, putting her hands over her ears as she listened to Thomas Campbell's last, terrifying moments.
Dressed all in black, with tied back, jet black hair, Coleen played the perfect grieving widow. The only thing that shattered this impression was the reinforced glass securing her inside the dock of a crown court.
In fact, beautician Coleen Campbell was not there praying justice would be done for her former spouse of 10 years. She was facing a possible life sentence accused of performing a key role in his brutal murder, one of the most shocking gangland killings in Greater Manchester’s recent history.
Thomas Campbell, a 38-year-old father-of-two, was tortured to death in his own home in Mossley, Tameside, after being ambushed by three men armed with weapons on July 2 of last year.
He was tied up, stabbed and beaten for two hours as his killers ransacked his home in search of valuables, cash or drugs. Mr Campbell, a convicted drug dealer said to have played an 'integral' part in an organised crime gang, was left for dead in his hallway and discovered the next morning, naked apart from a pair of socks, by a neighbour.
Coleen, who was married to Thomas for a decade, provided key information about her ex-husband's whereabouts and movements to the alleged 'mastermind' of the plan to attack him, John Belfield, 28, from Openshaw, is on the run and is wanted by police on suspicion of murder.
Last month, Coleen was sentenced to 13 years in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter. She will serve two-thirds of her sentence in jail.
Arthur Heywood
Arthur Heywood repeatedly stabbed his wife of 59 years to death 'as the last act of a failing marriage'.
After killing her, the 89-year-old told a 999 operator: "I've shoved a knife in her because she's been a bad woman. I just want you to take her away."
There were 'significant tensions' between the pair by the time of Mrs Heywood's death, at their home on Ramsay Avenue in Farnworth, Bolton, on March 27, 2019.
Heywood was deemed unfit to be a defendant in a conventional criminal trial, because he suffers from dementia.
But in a 'trial of the facts' at Manchester Crown Court, a jury ruled that Heywood killed his wife by repeatedly stabbing her to death.
A judge imposed a hospital order on him after deeming it was necessary 'for the protection of the public from serious harm'.
Daniel Grant Smith
Daniel Grant Smith daubed the words: “It was me” on his girlfriend’s leg after stabbing her to death.
The 41-year-old had been in a relationship with his partner Imogen Bohajczuk, 29, for a number of months which was characterised by alcohol abuse and violence.
Following an argument in February 2021, Smith, of Oldham, attacked his girlfriend, beating her then stabbing her with a kitchen knife.
He then moved her body to the bedroom, put her on the bed, and positioned her next to a soft toy and holding a bottle of perfume. He then wrote in red nail varnish: “It was me”.
After leaving her body, Smith went on to use her bank card and mobile phone, emptying her bank account on buying alcohol. It wasn’t until a housing officer made a welfare check that Ms Bohajczuk was discovered.
Smith pleaded guilty to her murder and was jailed for life to serve a minimum term of 17-and-a-half years in prison.
Kevin Mannion
Controlling and violent 'monster' Kevin Mannion used his girlfriend Elinor O'Brien as a punchbag before stabbing her to death at his Manchester city centre apartment.
The couple had argued after Elinor, 22, questioned Mannion, 45, who had told her that a woman he'd also been seeing had revealed she was pregnant. Mannion stabbed her to the groin at the Great Northern Tower off Peter Street, and Elinor died three days later. He called 999 and paramedics rushed to the scene.
Within half an hour of calling the emergency services, Mannion called his solicitor and asked him to be 'available'. Two days before the fatal knifing, Mannion had stabbed Elinor to the breast.
Mannion, of Watson Street, Manchester, was jailed for life this week after being found guilty of murder, wounding with intent and controlling or coercive behaviour.
Corinna Baines
Corinna Baines killed her husband by pouring boiling water mixed with sugar over his head as he slept.
The mum murdered Michael Baines, 81, on July 14, 2020, after a family dispute. The pair had been married for 38 years.
The day before the attack, Corinna Baines was described as angry and very upset at a rumour circulating about her husband that she believed to be true, according to police.
On the day of the incident she returned to their home in Neston, in the Wirral, and filled a bucket from her garden with boiling water and mixed it with three kilos of sugar. As Michael lay asleep in bed she poured the contents over his arms and torso and then left.
She then walked to a neighbour's house and banged on the front door until the occupant answered. He contacted police and ambulance after hearing her say ‘I’ve hurt him really bad, I think I’ve killed him’.
Officers went to the home and found Michael in excruciating pain and whimpering in bed with the skin on his right arm and hand peeling off. He died from his injuries in hospital after five weeks of treatment.
Baines, 59, was jailed for life in 2021 after a jury found her guilty of murder.
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