Mother shot saving daughter

One of the robbers attacked Mr Bates with a crowbar

A shopkeeper who was shot dead in a robbery stepped in front of her killers to save her daughter, said her husband.

Thieves killed Marian Bates, 64, in front of her daughter Xanthe in an attack at their family-run jewellery store in Arnold, Nottingham, on Tuesday.

The two men arrived at the store on a stolen scooter and threatened 34-year-old Xanthe with a handgun.

Marian's husband Victor, who suffered head injuries in the struggle, said the gunman had first attempted to shoot him but the weapon misfired.

Crowbar attack

Mr Bates, 64, said: "My wife ran forward to get between the gunman and my daughter and he shot her dead.

"She was a brave woman, not at all foolhardy. She was protecting her daughter like every mother."

Mrs Bates was critically injured when she was shot in the chest during the attack at the Time Centre, in Front Street, Arnold.

She was a brave woman, not at all foolhardy. She was protecting her daughter like every mother Victor Bates

"They worked on Marian and gave her heart massage," said Mr Bates, who was hit on the head with a crowbar during the struggle.

"I was standing above her in a daze. I just couldn't do anything, I was in shock.

Mr Bates and Xanthe were both treated at hospital for facial injuries, sustained as they attempted to fend off the raiders.

Police said the thieves, who were in their late teens or early twenties, were confronted by members of the public as they sped from the busy shopping area on a stolen blue Gilera Runner scooter.

Tributes

Floral tributes were laid at the scene by shocked members of the local community, many of whom had known the family and their business for several generations.

Mrs Bates, who has a second daughter Naomi, 36, and three grandsons, was an active worshipper at her local church in Newstead Abbey.

Friends said the couple had planned to retire together soon and had been planning to go on holiday to Tunisia next week.

"We were very happily married. She was a dynamic woman and a beauty," said Mr Bates.