Mother in Spanish court over deaths

Father, Martin Smith, an alleged paedophile who was extradited to Britain
12 April 2012

A British woman arrested after her two young children were found dead in a Spanish hotel room is to appear in court.

The bodies of Rebecca Smith, five, and her brother Daniel, aged 11 months, were discovered in the Costa Brava resort of Lloret de Mar on Tuesday.

Their mother, Lianne Smith, 43, was arrested by Spanish police the same day in connection with the deaths and will appear before a judge in nearby Blanes.

Under the Spanish legal system, a suspect is brought before a judge who decides whether there is sufficient evidence to bring a case against them.

A woman believed to be Mrs Smith was taken to the couple's apartment in Barcelona on Thursday.

She was seen outside the building being escorted by police and wearing a jacket over her head to hide her face. Her wrists appeared to be bandaged but police said they could not confirm whether she had been treated for any injuries.

Detectives are understood to have searched the property in her presence and she was later seen returning to the police station in Blanes in a police car.

Her partner, Martin Smith, appeared in court in Carlisle on Weddnesday charged with 13 child sex offences said to have been committed in the Cumbria area between 1995 and 2005.

The 45-year-old, originally from North Shields, was one of Britain's most wanted men until his arrest by Spanish police earlier this month.

The family previously lived in Cumbria and then Staffordshire, from where the couple and Rebecca were reported missing in December 2007. The police forces for both counties referred the case to the police watchdog.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in