Mrs. Jessie Cranston-Hughes told her 16-year-old son Brian Bates that he must never enter a particular room in the house where they lived together at Crossgreen Drive in the Uphall area of Broxburn, West Lothian. What was the dark secret of that special room? She would not tell. So one evening early in 1963 Bates decided to find out.
A terrible row ensued, during which Bates went to the kitchen, fetched a knife, and stabbed his mother repeatedly with it. Immediately after he killed her he gave himself up.
Bates was said to be a difficult person who liked to have his own way. He was also addicted to watching violent programmes on TV. The Crown prosecutor told the court that the prisoner had undoubtedly been influenced by what he had seen on TV. He was ordered to be detained indefinitely, and was released almost eight years later to the day, on MARCH 26th, 1971.
The secret of the special room remains a mystery.