Charley Bates

Charley Bates is a supporting character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. He is a young boy and member of Fagin's gang of pickpockets, and sidekick to the Artful Dodger. Charley, along with The Artful Dodger, steal Mr. Brownlow's handkerchief, a crime Oliver is blamed for. Later in the novel, Bates delivers bad news to Fagin that when the Artful Dodger was arrested for stealing a silver snuff box and positively identified by the owner, that it is a sure bet he will be convicted in court, and that it is too bad he "did not go out in a blaze of glory by stealing something of great value instead of a half penny snuffbox."

At the end of the novel, Charley, is horrified by Bill Sikes' violent murder of Nancy. When Sikes approaches him, he starts yelling, revealing Sikes' location to the mob who want to lynch him. He is the only member of Fagin's gang to reform. In an abridged version of the book largely meant for younger readers, the ultimate chapter states that all members of Fagin's gang had unhappy endings similar to Monks and the Artful Dodger; and "only Charley Bates escape that fate and became a respectable citizen". The book also states that he became a farm hand.

The character of Charley Bates has a much smaller role in Oliver! the musical and is eliminated totally from other adaptations including the 2007 miniseries and the 1997 adaptation. One adaptation in which his role is almost equally as significant as the novel is Roman Polanski's 2005 adaptation, his role is also fairly prominent in The 1948 David Lean film.