Anorak

Anorak News | Lianne Smith: Her Last Letter And A Mawkish Media Epitaph

Lianne Smith: Her Last Letter And A Mawkish Media Epitaph

by | 29th, May 2010

LIANNE Smith is back in the news. The woman who spells her name “Lianne” has, reportedly, admitted to killing her two children Daniel and Rebecca in a Spanish hotel room. Her partner, the father of the children, one Martin Smith, is in a UK jail on 13 charges of sexual offences against a girl aged between seven and 18.

Lianne Smith And The Guilt Of Staffordshire Police

The Mail’s front-page headline announces:

“They’re trying to take my children. I’m giving them a wonderful holiday before events you will start to read about”

In case you did now know what to make of it, the Mail tells readers that this is the:

“Heart-braking last letter from murder-charge mother”

Lianne Smith created a package of phones and words. She sent it to a publicist. The publicist seems to have sent it to the Mail. Paul Harris decodes it:

She reveals that ‘an attempt was made to take my children’ – so she intended to give them ‘a short and wonderful holiday before events you will start to hear about in the press’.

Lianne Smith: The Madeleine McCann Factor

Lianne Smith is media savvy.

Mrs Smith, a former child protection expert with Cumbria County Council, refused to believe he was guilty – and hoped publicity over her plight would allow her to keep custody of her children while she fought the allegations on his behalf.

Lianne Smith: What The Nanny Didn’t See

She was a child protection expert? Was she? The BBC puts it differently:

Cumbria County Council said Mrs Smith was employed as a manager in the authority’s children’s services department, but did not work directly with children.

She was responsible for devising out-of-school activities throughout the county for the benefit of pupils, parents and the community.

Does that makes her an expert in child protection? While you decode the code, Harris has moved on:

‘Social Services in Staffordshire and their policy of “forced adoptions” are to blame for this,’ she writes. Foretelling her own death, she adds: ‘If we were only dealing with the police and court system I would still be here for Martin.’

Lianne Smith: Martin Smith, Paedo, Ghosts And Blaming The Police

She ends:

‘Our hotel is the MIRAMAR,’ she writes. ‘Our room is the 1st floor far right.’ As it turned out, no one needed a guide like this to find them.

Well, no. Lianne Smith did not die. So, what is the point of publishing photos of the dead children, then?

What motive Lianne Smith had for the killings is still to be officially confirmed.
Whatever transpired, her photographic catalogue and handwritten narrative were clearly compiled to ensure the case was made public. Together, they will also stand as a tragic epitaph for two innocent lives.

A media epitaph for two children. Or just really good, emotive front-page splash?

8887721

Image 2 of 19

The prison in Girona where Lianne Smith has been transferred. Smith, 43, was held by police in Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava after Rebecca, five, and her 11-month-old brother Daniel were found dead in a hotel room on Tuesday. According to reports, they had been suffocated.



Posted: 29th, May 2010 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink