Lianne Smith And The Guilt Of Staffordshire Police
LIANNE Smith: WHEN a British police snatch squad set up the arrest of a suspected molester of children they say they asked his partner and mother of their two children if she needed assistance.
That would be after they had confirmed her husband was being charged with up to 13 sex offences dating to 2005 …about the time, at 37-years-old, she was pregnant with their first child.
Lianne Smith: The Madeleine McCann Factor
Just who, exactly, took the decision that a 43-year-old mum of two, who was being left in Barcelona, was able to cope alone with what must have been the most shattering set of circumstances and public degradation? Where does the final responsibility lie when the mum Lianne Smith yesterday pleaded guilty to killing her two children in documents released in Spain after a secret court court hearing?
There were no press present for the guilty plea.
Smith, 43, is said to have suffocated her children, Rebecca, five, and Daniel, 11 months, at the resort of Lloret de Mar on Tuesday – the same day her partner Martin Smith was extradited to Britain to face charges of child sex abuse.
Lianne Smith: What The Nanny Didn’t See
Yesterday after a court appearance, in documents released after the hearing, the judge said she had pleaded guilty to killing both children.
The Guardian says:
“Mrs Smith spontaneously declared that she had killed her two children,” the document read.“Smith and her husband, Martin, fled the UK in 2007 after he was accused of child sex offences. They are believed to have gone first to Costa Brava and then to Barcelona, where she retrained as an English language teacher.
“Her husband was arrested in Spain on May 8 and was extradited to the UK on Tuesday. He appeared in court in Carlisle on Wednesday charged with 13 child sex offences said to have been committed in the Cumbria area between 1995 and 2005.”
Smith, allegedly, suffocated her daughter Rebecca, five, and 11-month-old son Daniel with a plastic bag – then slept next to their bodies overnight.
Lianne Smith: Martin Smith, Paedo, Ghosts And Blaming The Police
The Daily Mirror said:
“Spanish police believe she tried to slash her wrists before calling police on Tuesday – 12 hours after the children died.
It is said that she left a suicide note reading: “I hope you can forgive me.”
Judge Rafael Fernandez Santiago heard the details of the case in a closed court in Blanes, north of Barcelona on the Costa Brava.
He said: “A forensic doctor examined Lianne Angela Smith after she was arrested in the presence of her lawyer and translator.
She was asked if she wanted to be present while her children’s bodies were removed from the crime scene but declined “because she had already said goodbye”.
The judge said she confessed again later after she had been read her rights.”
Smith will be on suicide watch while held at Girona Prison.
It emerged yesterday that she refused help from British police before the murders claiming she was able to cope.
Staffordshire police say they traced her to the Barcelona flat she had shared with wanted husband Martin Smith after he was arrested on May 7. He was later extradited to England and is facing 13 child sex charges.
Lianne Smith: Martin Smith, Paedo, Ghosts And Blaming The Police
Smith told officers in a phone call that she and the children were “fine” and did not need help.
If such an arrest was made in Britain would the family have been left to deal with the shattering series of events…or perhaps because the police may have believed Lianne Smith, originally from the Tyneside area, was complicit in the couple’s flight from justice, it was sufficient to ask in a brief phone call if she could cope .
Clearly she could not and once again the wooden tops, in this case Staffordshire Police, have some very serious questions to answer.
I sincerely hope this morning in Cannock Road, Stafford, the HQ of Staffordshire police, hands are being wrung and collective heads bowed in shame.
That’s where a grave underestimation has been made and part of the final responsibly lies.
Lianne Smith has already pleaded guilty. Staffordshire Police must do the same. – AGW
Lianne Smith: The Vicar’s Wife Charged With A Double Murder
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Posted: 22nd, May 2010 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comments (6) | TrackBack | Permalink
