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18/06/2012
Court Hears Mother Smothered Her Children And Spent Night With The Bodies
A court heard today how a British woman killed her two children in a hotel room in Spain while they slept, and then spent the night with their bodies.
43-year-old Lianne Smith has admitted smothering Rebecca, five, and 11-month-old Daniel, in Lloret de Mar, Costa Brava, in May 2010.
The deaths took place after her partner, Martin Smith, was extradited to the UK on charges of sexually abusing a young girl.
Smith, a 46-year-old former TV psychic, originally from North Shields, North Tyneside, was later convicted of rape and jailed for 16 years. In January he was found hanged in his cell in HMP Manchester.
Addressing the court her lawyer said that Miss Smith was in a state of "psychiatric disturbance" at the time of the murders.
Victor Pillado Quintas, prosecuting, said in his opening statement that on the night of 17 May, while they were asleep, Ms Smith had "taken advantage of the trust the children would have had in their mother".
"She took her son in her arms and put a bag over his head, closing it around his neck," he said.
"She did not stop tightening the bag until she had killed him.
"Immediately she did the same to the five-year-old, closing the same bag around her neck and tightening it until she killed her daughter.
"After ending the lives of her children she spent the night with their lifeless bodies."
The following day, he said, she went to the reception and asked for police and an ambulance, and confessed to police and the judicial authorities that she had ended the children's lives.
Mr Pillado Quintas told members of the jury they would have to decide whether she knew that it was wrong or whether she was suffering from a mental condition at the time.
The Provincial Court in Girona will determine whether she is criminally responsible for two counts of murder.
(H)
43-year-old Lianne Smith has admitted smothering Rebecca, five, and 11-month-old Daniel, in Lloret de Mar, Costa Brava, in May 2010.
The deaths took place after her partner, Martin Smith, was extradited to the UK on charges of sexually abusing a young girl.
Smith, a 46-year-old former TV psychic, originally from North Shields, North Tyneside, was later convicted of rape and jailed for 16 years. In January he was found hanged in his cell in HMP Manchester.
Addressing the court her lawyer said that Miss Smith was in a state of "psychiatric disturbance" at the time of the murders.
Victor Pillado Quintas, prosecuting, said in his opening statement that on the night of 17 May, while they were asleep, Ms Smith had "taken advantage of the trust the children would have had in their mother".
"She took her son in her arms and put a bag over his head, closing it around his neck," he said.
"She did not stop tightening the bag until she had killed him.
"Immediately she did the same to the five-year-old, closing the same bag around her neck and tightening it until she killed her daughter.
"After ending the lives of her children she spent the night with their lifeless bodies."
The following day, he said, she went to the reception and asked for police and an ambulance, and confessed to police and the judicial authorities that she had ended the children's lives.
Mr Pillado Quintas told members of the jury they would have to decide whether she knew that it was wrong or whether she was suffering from a mental condition at the time.
The Provincial Court in Girona will determine whether she is criminally responsible for two counts of murder.
(H)
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