ROBERT BATES (LOYALIST)
LAMBERT M. SURHONE, MARIAM T. TENNOE, SUSAN F. HENSSONOW
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Robert William Bates (nicknamed "Basher") (c.1948 - 11 June 1997) was a UVF loyalist paramilitary from Belfast, Northern Ireland and a member of the infamous Shankill Butchers.
Bates, who had a criminal record dating back to 1966, was convicted in February 1979 of murder and given ten life sentences, with a recommendation by the trial judge, Mr Justice O'Donnell, that he should never be released.
While in prison, he was said to have "found God," and as a result became a born-again Christian.
In October 1996, Bates was cleared for early release by the Life Sentence Review Board.
He was given the opportunity of participating in a rehabilitation scheme, spending the day on a work placement and returning to prison at night.
As he arrived for work at in his native Shankill area of Belfast early on the morning of 11 June 1997, Bates was shot dead by the son of a UDA man he had killed in 1977.
