Spain hotel deaths: Mother to decide on children's bodies
A mother who admitted suffocating her two children with a plastic bag in a Spanish hotel room is expected to decide whether their bodies should be repatriated.
Rebecca, five, and her 11-month-old brother Daniel were found dead at the Hotel Miramar in Lloret de Mar, on the Costa Brava, on Tuesday.
British consular staff are due to visit their mother, Lianne Smith, in jail in the coming days to talk to her about whether she wants their bodies to be flown home or buried in Spain.
The bodies are understood to be held at Girona’s Institute of Legal Medicine currently.
Smith, 43, was transferred to prison in Girona, Spain, yesterday after a judge ruled that a case should be brought against her.
The former English County Council employee confessed to the horrific killings in notes left at the crime scene, a court in Blanes, near Lloret de Mar, heard.
Judge Rafael Fernandez remanded her in custody at the end of yesterday’s hearing, which was held behind closed doors and lasted several hours.
She is being held in a cell on her own and is thought to be on suicide watch.
The children died around the time Smith’s partner Martin Smith, 45, was extradited to Britain to face child sex charges.
Reports in Spain suggested they were killed on Monday night and that their mother spent the night in her hotel room with their bodies.
The court heard that Smith, who is believed to have run a nursery in Barcelona, was worried the authorities would take her children away.
The judge’s ruling noted: “Smith said in her statement that social services in the UK wanted to take her children away and that despite knowing she was sought by the authorities, she decided to escape to Spain.”
It was also noted that Smith was living in Barcelona, from where she fled to the Lloret de Mar hotel with her children.
It cited the testimony of a witness who said she left her personal belongings in her rented apartment in Travessera de Gracia.
A statement from the court read: “Smith spontaneously declared that she had killed her two children...
“Asked if she wanted to be present when the two bodies were removed, she declined as she said she had already said goodbye to her two children.”
The court heard that she acted alone and any involvement by another person was ruled out.
The judge ruled that the investigation be conducted “in secret” owing to the public alarm sparked by the tragic incident.
Results of psychological tests were normal, the court statement said.
“Forensic psychologists carried out an examination for the arrested woman, Ms Smith, concluding that she was conscious and aware of the situation and that the results of the psychological tests were normal,” it said.
The judge decided there was enough evidence to suggest she committed two murders and ruled that she should be remanded in custody as there was a risk she would flee.
She was also deemed to have sufficient motives for the killings.
Smith, formerly a manager at Cumbria County Council’s children’s services department, was seen being led into prison after the hearing looking tired and drawn.
The shocking events on the Costa Brava unfolded just two days after her partner and father of the children appeared before Carlisle magistrates charged with 13 sexual offences and one for jumping bail.
Smith, originally from North Shields, was one of Britain’s most wanted men until his arrest by Spanish police earlier this month.
At the time he faced charges of rape of a child under 16, gross indecency with a girl under 16, indecent assault of a girl under 16 and attempted rape of a girl under 16.
