30-year jail term for British woman who killed her two children in Costa Brava hotel

A WOMAN who murdered her young son and daughter in a Spanish hotel room has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Lianne Smith, 45, had admitted smothering 11-month-old Daniel and five-year-old Rebecca with a plastic bag at the Miramar Hotel in Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava in May 2010.

Judge Adolfo Garcia Morales jailed Smith for 15 years for each of the murders. The sentencing comes after a jury at the Provincial Court in Girona, north east Spain, decided last month that Smith was criminally responsible for the deaths

Her defence sought an acquittal, claiming she was in a state of “psychiatric disturbance” and suffering insurmountable fear when the tragedy happened.

Judge Garcia Morales said he was imposing the minimum sentence for murder because he considered that, although responsible for her actions, Smith was suffering a degree of “mental disturbance” when she committed the crimes.

The judge also dismissed the defence’s claim that Smith had been suffering “insurmountable fear” because she feared British social services would take them away from her.

The killings took place shortly after Smith’s partner, Martin Smith, was arrested in Barcelona by Spanish police acting on a European arrest warrant.

The family had been living in Spain since 2007 after fleeing Lichfield, Staffordshire, because Smith’s eldest daughter by her first husband had accused Mr Smith of sexually abusing her.

After her partner was deported to the UK, Smith thought British social services had travelled to Spain to take her children away from her.

In December 2010, Mr Smith was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of using hypnotism, bullying and violence to groom and sexually abuse Smith’s eldest daughter, Sarah Richardson, who has waived her right to anonymity. Last January, Mr Smith was found hanged in a prison cell in Manchester.