A mum who was murdered by her former cage fighter ex-partner, a 'bubbly' nana whose body parts were found dismembered in a country park and a 26-year-old trainee nurse strangled to death by her boyfriend's brother.
These were just three of the 11 women killed at the hands of men in Greater Manchester over two years.
Eight women were killed by men in 2019, four were killed in 2020.
They were all mothers, daughters, sisters and friends.
Across the entire country, 238 women were killed by men over the two years, shocking figures released by the the femicide census showed.
In 2020, 52 per cent of victims were killed by current or former partners.
In 43 per cent of the cases, there was a 'known history of violence and abuse by the perpetrator of the victim', the report said.
In light of these tragic statistics, campaigners are calling for a 'better prevention of violence' in the first place.
They want the 'state to be accountable' for this prevention, with preparators who 'use the same patterns, in the same relationships and patterns, with the same excuses' brought to justice.
Below, we look back to 2019 and 2020 and remember each of the 11 women killed in our region by men - many of whom were killed by partners or ex-partners.
We also look at what Greater Manchester Police are doing now to try and prevent more tragic killings.
Melissa Belshaw
Melissa Belshaw was murdered by her former cage fighter ex-partner Andrew Wadsworth in May 2020.
Wadsworth, described in court as 'violent' and 'dangerous', stabbed Melissa, 32, to death at her home in Wigan after bingeing on cocaine and alcohol.
Her 13-year-old daughter witnessed some of the brutal attack.
Wadsworth tried to 'assassinate' his victim's character in court, saying he suffered a 'loss of control' prior to the murder and claiming she had made a series of revelations which left him 'humiliated'.
A judge told him: "You had degraded her in life, and you continued to do so after her death."
Beautician Melissa was described by her mum as a 'beautiful soul, inside and out' who had a 'heart of gold'.
Her mum said Wadsworth had been 'hassling' her daughter before he killed her.
In December 2020, he was convicted of murder and jailed for life to serve a minimum of 32 years.
Regan Tierney
Young mum Regan Tierney was stabbed to death by her ex-partner in a horrific murder suicide.
The 27-year-old's body was found by her father at her home in Salford in June 2019.
Her former partner Daniel Patten, 31, was found with critical injuries at the address following her death and died two days later.
Police previously stated that nobody else was involved in Regan's death and that they were treating the tragedy as a murder suicide.
Miss Tierney had been subjected to years of abuse at the hands of Patten before she finally found the strength to leave him and move on with a new partner.
Her family allege Patten struggled to accept his relationship had ended.
Just days before her death, Regan made a phone call to police reporting that he had threatened to 'put her head on a stick,' believing she was in danger.
But a three-day delay to record the report by GMP meant that by the time the force made contact with her, Miss Tierney had 'lost confidence' and decided not to take the matter further.
A Domestic Homicide Review was commissioned by Salford Community Safety Partnership, following concerns about Regan's contact with GMP and other agencies prior to her death.
The report found that a number of opportunities were missed by services including GMP, GP practices, Bolton NHS FT services, Greater Manchester Mental Health Foundation, and Salford Royal NHS Trust.
Regan was described by her family as a 'loving mum who loved family life'.
"She was a beautiful daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, and an amazing mother. We will forever cherish the memories", they said.
Yvonne McCann
Yvonne McCann, affectionately known as Von, was murdered by her estranged husband Thomas McCann in May 2020.
He attacked the 'lovely bubbly' mum and nana, 46, after a petty argument at their home in Brinnington, Stockport, over some frozen chips.
The next day, police tragically found dissected body parts in bin bags in Reddish Vale Country Park.
Thomas McCann had attacked Yvonne, strangled her, and dismembered her body.
Her loved ones noticed she was missing when she didn't show up for a family BBQ.
But her killer had sent texts from her phone to create the illusion that she was still alive.
Thomas McCann admitted in a statement: "I killed my wife and disposed of her in the garbage."
In March last year, he was jailed for life to serve a minimum term of 12 years and 182 days.
After he was sent down, Yvonne's heartbroken family said: “To our mum, we children were her everything. Our mum was, and still is, everything to us."
Hyacinth Morris
Hyacinth Morris, a 'loving sister, aunt and daughter', was killed by her son Leroy Panton.
Panton strangled his mother at their home in Levenshulme in May 2020 then left her face down in the bath.
Hyacinth, 67, had 'fought for her life' in the 'violent struggle', a court was told.
Her son had been suffering from mental health problems at the time, and was experiencing a 'severe depressive episode'. He was found two days after killing his mother, sat on a park bench 'staring into space'.
In April last year, Panton was jailed for six years and eight months after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
His family said they wished he had 'confided' in them about his mental health issues.
In a statement, they said: "Losing Hyacinth; who was a loving sister, aunt and daughter, has been heart-breaking and difficult to come to terms with. We miss her very much.
"We wished that her and Leroy had confided in us all.
"Mental health is an illness that people feel embarrassed by and try to hide it. Nothing will bring back Hyacinth.
"We know that Leroy hurts more than us if that is possible, and has to come to terms with the loss of his mother. He was not in his right mind."
Lynda Cooper
Lynda Cooper was killed by her husband Denis in a 'violent' assault inside their home before he took his own life.
Police tragically found the bodies of the couple on Sandown Road in Hazel Grove, Stockport, in August 2020.
Lynda, 72, was found dead on the floor in their bedroom upstairs.
Stockport Coroners' Court was told how she had been subjected to an assault 'directed to the head and neck'.
There was also evidence that she might have been strangled and suffocated with a pillow.
Denis, 69, was found hanged in the hallway.
Coroner Alison Mutch recorded a verdict of unlawful killing in respect of Lynda, and suicide in respect of Denis.
Alison Hunt
Alison Hunt was a beloved mum to her only daughter.
But the 42-year-old was cruelly snatched away from the then 16-year-old by her 'jealous and controlling' ex-boyfriend.
Vernon Holmes brutally stabbed her to death at the front door of her home in Swinton in Salford in January 2019.
He knifed her at least 18 times, a court was told.
Alison's daughter slept upstairs unaware of what was happening just metres away.
Holmes had been in a relationship with his victim until September 2017.
Throughout the relationship, he had shown signs of 'obsessiveness'.
He became resentful when Alison started a serious relationship with another man in December 2018 and brutally murdered her in a 'grotesque attempt' to assert control.
Holmes was found guilty of murder in July 2019 and jailed for life, with a minimum term of 25 years.
Alison's family said in a tribute: "The loss of her beautiful smile and heart of gold is a tragic loss to all of us."
Barbara Heywood
Barbara Heywood was 89-years-old when she was stabbed to death by her husband Arthur Heywood.
The pair had been married for 59 years.
In March 2019, Arthur Heywood killed his wife at their home in Farnworth in Bolton in what was the 'last act of a failing marriage'.
He was deemed unfit to be a defendant in a conventional criminal trial, because he suffers from dementia.
In a 'trial of the facts', a jury ruled that he did kill his wife by repeatedly stabbing her to death.
A judge imposed a hospital order on Arthur Heywood, after deeming it was necessary 'for the protection of the public from serious harm'.
He can only be discharged from treatment if the authorities give their permission.
In a statement read to court, the couple's daughter Yvonne said: "As a family we have been left absolutely bereft, totally shocked by the tragic death of our mother.
"Nobody deserves to have their life taken away at any cost, or in the way our father did."
Lala Kamara
Trainee nurse Lala Kamara was brutally murdered by her boyfriend's brother - for crack cocaine.
Moustapha Dia strangled the 26-year-old to death in her home in Denton in March 2019.
After killing her, Dia then used her bank card to buy food at McDonald's.
He had already been stealing money from Lala, who let him stay at her flat and had been in a relationship with his brother Khadim for a year, to feed his heroin and crack cocaine addiction.
Lala had started her 'dream job' at Wythenshawe Hospital' before she was killed.
Her family said: "Our lives will never be the same again without her, but she will continue to live in all our hearts forever.
Dia was jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years in September 2019.
Margaret Smythe
Margaret 'Maggie' Smythe was a mum-of-three from Bolton.
In January 2019, the 29-year-old was murdered at the hands of her ex-partner Christopher Taylor.
She was 'lured' to a local pub by Taylor, described as an 'animal', after he sent her numerous texts before she was killed.
Her body was then dismembered.
Taylor's brother Brian Ottley, 29, helped him dispose of her body and clothing.
A court packed with friends and family members of the victim heard that Maggie's head and arms have never been found.
Her family said: "Maggie was a loving mother and aunt to her three children and niece. She was bright and bubbly and a best friend to all of us.
"She would do anything for anyone. Maggie would give you her last pound if you needed it."
Taylor was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 24 years at Bolton Crown Court in September 2019.
Ottley was sentenced to nine years in prison after being found guilty of assisting an offender.
Michelle Pearson
Michelle Pearson and her four children were killed in a horror petrol attack at their home in Walkden in Salford.
Demi Pearson, 14, Brandon, eight, and Lacie, seven, tragically died in the blaze in December 2017.
Three-year-old Lia died in hospital two days later.
Michelle was rescued but suffered catastrophic injuries.
When she woke up in hospital, she had no idea why she was there. Her loved ones had to do the unthinkable and tell her the news about her children.
She clung onto life in hospital until her death in August 2019.
Zak Bolland, 26, and David Worrall, 28, were unanimously convicted by a jury of the 37-year-old's murder in March last year.
Both men had already been found guilty of murdering Michelle's four children.
The court was told how Bolland had been involved in a fued with Kyle Pearson, Michelle's son.
He said he wanted to damage the kitchen in the family home in retaliation after he claimed Kyle was responsible for damaging his car.
In May 2018, Bolland, then 23, was convicted of four counts of murder and three of attempted murder and was handed a minimum 40-year sentence.
His friend Worrall, then 26, was also convicted of the four murders and three counts of attempted GBH and was handed a 37-year sentence.
Bolland's then girlfriend Courtney Brierley was found guilty of four counts of manslaughter and was jailed for 21 years.
Saima Riaz
Saima Riaz, a mental health nurse at the Royal Oldham Hospital, was tragically stabbed to death by her husband Mohammed Choudhry.
He had become 'consumed with anger and resentment' after that his 33-year-old wife was having an affair.
She was 'dissatisfied' at life with her husband, and was left 'afraid' of him after he assaulted and threatened her.
She felt 'shame' about the affair and wanted to apologise.
To 'gauge his response', she asked what he would do if he found she had been speaking to another man.
Choudhry said 'he would kill her'.
In April 2019, he stabbed her more than 75 times at their home in Smallbridge in Rochdale.
In January 2020, a jury took less than than 20 minutes to convict Choudhry of murder. He was sentenced to life in prison to serve a minimum of 28 years.
"Saima was an amazing mother to three wonderful children,” Saima's family said in a statement.
"She loved her job as a nurse and was so dedicated to helping others."
"We are calling for better prevention of this violence in the first place"
Clarrie O’Callaghan is co-founder of the Femicide Census, which gathers information about women who have been killed by men in the UK and the men who have killed them.
She said campaigners are calling for 'better prevention' of violence.
"We have seen a lot in the news, and much of it very worrying, over the last few months about the way in which government, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service are responding to men’s violence against women", Clarrie said.
"We are also calling for better prevention of this violence in the first place because contrary to the way in which it is so often reported, these killings are not unpredictable, isolated incidents, they are not inevitable.
"It is shocking that in so many cases, once you start looking into them, you find both that the perpetrator has a history of coercive and controlling behaviour and violence against women and that in many cases the victim had spoken about it.
"She may have been seeking information or actually seeking help and reporting it or she may have had conversations with friends, colleagues or family."
"We want the state to be accountable for preventing and prosecuting men’s violence against women"
Karen Ingala Smith, also a co-founder of the Femicide Census and CEO of the violence against women charity, said: “We want the state to be accountable for preventing and prosecuting men’s violence against women.
"We want perpetrators brought to justice but better still, we want the killing of women by men, femicide, to stop.
"We consistently find that men are killing women at the same rate, with the same methods, in the same relationships and patterns and with the same excuses.
"There are no excuses, it can and must stop but that takes, as sisters who went before us have always said 'Deeds not Words'."
"We want all members of our community, especially women and girls, to feel they are not at risk of harm and are safe in Greater Manchester"
Chief Superintendent Nicky Porter, Greater Manchester Police's force lead for violence against women and girls, said: "Anyone killed, regardless of gender, is extremely distressing and our thoughts remain with these women who lost their lives at the hands of men.
"We want all members of our community, especially women and girls, to feel they are not at risk of harm and are safe in Greater Manchester and this is why violence against women and girls is one of our top priorities.
"As part of our strategy and aims to make the region a safer place for women and girls, we're targeting perpetrators. It's not the responsibility of women to prevent themselves from becoming victims, it's down to us as law enforcers and our partners to target offenders and bring those responsible to justice.
"One way we're doing this is through Operation Lioness - a brand new operation we launched last year that focuses on the night time economy and cracking down on predatory behaviour.
"We want to make sure that women and girls feel safe in public spaces, private spaces and online and we will achieve this by targeting perpetrators and listening to women and girls' lived experiences to build trust and confidence.
"We're also support the GMCA's 10-year gender-based violence strategy which aims to tackle gender-based violence by encompassing how health services, education establishments, the criminal justice system and housing providers can work in partnership to improve people's lives. It's our shared societal responsibility to ensure gender equality.
"We will continue to work with our partners across the region and take strong action against anyone who poses a threat to women and girls - everyone, regardless of gender, should feel safe and we as police officers are here to ensure that."
Domestic Abuse Helplines
Greater Manchester Police's domestic abuse advice and information can be found here.
Women can call The Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge on 0808 2000 247 for free at any time, day or night. The staff will offer confidential, non-judgemental information and support.
You can also talk to a doctor, health visitor or midwife or call.
Women can also email helpline@womensaid.org.uk. Staff will respond within 5 working days.
Men can call Men's Advice Line on 0808 8010 327 (Monday and Wednesday, 9am to 8pm, and Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9am to 5pm) for non-judgemental information and support.
Fundraising for the NIA project can be found here.
