Mother 'who killed her children' in Spanish hotel room defends partner accused of child rape

A mother suspected of killing her two young children in a Spanish hotel vowed to stand by her partner after he was dramatically arrested for child sex offences.
Lianne Smith also gave a chilling warning just days before her children's deaths earlier this week in which she sobbed: 'I really don't know how I'll cope.'
The 43-year-old was terrified that five-year-old Rebecca and 11-month-old Daniel would be taken into care after her partner Martin Smith was arrested over paedophile allegations.

Rebecca Smith, aged five, was found dead in a hotel room in Spain yesterday. Her mother Lianne, 43, has allegedly confessed to the killing

But, in an interview after he was seized on May 8, she revealed how she vowed to stand by her fugitive partner.

'If I had only one small doubt, I would have ended our relationship,' she said.
In a dramatic appeal for help, she said: 'Martin's gone now and I've been left looking after both of the children.
'I really don't know how I'll cope... I'm not sure what my plans are now. I'm trying to get my head together and work out what to do.'
Mrs Smith is a former head of a Cumbria County Council department set up to protect children, and ran a nursery for youngsters aged three to six in Barcelona.
She issued her plea in an interview with a publicist whom she contacted after Smith was dramatically held by Spanish police on May 8.
She firmly believes he is innocent - but was left in despair after he was extradited to the UK.
The pair had been on the run in Spain for more than two years after fleeing Britain when Smith, 45, was accused of child sex offences.
He was arrested in Barcelona less than a fortnight ago, leaving his partner desperate with worry that Spanish authorities would now seize their children.

Arrest: Lianne Smith is led out of the Hotel Miramar and into a waiting police car in Spain

On Saturday she checked into the Hotel Miramar in Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava, where the children's bodies were discovered on Tuesday.

Mrs Smith was arrested on suspicion of their murder and has reportedly confessed to suffocating them by putting plastic bags over their heads.
Police found their bodies on beds in the £53-a-night triple room, covered with blankets.
Martin Smith was told about his children's deaths after he was extradited back to Britain on Tuesday, and immediately threatened to kill himself.
He is understood to be on suicide watch.
The former TV psychic is accused of rape, gross indecency, indecent assault and attempted rape, all against a child under 16.
He was first arrested in November 2007, when the pair had been together for 15 years following the breakdown of Mrs Smith's first marriage.
In a series of extraordinary phone calls and emails to the publicist, whom she found on the internet, Mrs Smith said her partner was prepared to stand trial over the allegations, which date back to 1995, but said the 'turning point' came when Staffordshire social services launched child protection proceedings over their daughter, then three.
The Smiths, who had homes in Carlisle and Lichfield, Staffordshire, believed Rebecca would be taken into care.
Mrs Smith was working as a council education officer while her partner, a music business manager, had a fledgling career as a TV psychic and had appeared on the show Most Haunted.
But they decided to leave their lives in Britain behind and fled taking only two bags of clothes and a box of toys for Rebecca.
Mrs Smith said: 'We decided to take action. We were not prepared to sit back and be the victims, and for the sake of our daughter we had to act quickly.
'Martin and I talked about it and decided we would just disappear and start a new life.
'Becky was everything to both of us. She was the focus of our lives and that's why we left.
'When we left we took just one bag each and left both of our houses behind. We felt we didn't have any choice.'
Mrs Smith said she had always believed in her partner's innocence, saying: 'The allegations were shocking. Never once did I question Martin as to whether it was true or not.
'If I had only one small doubt, I would have ended our relationship... Martin was really badly affected by the experience.'
Police discovered CCTV images of Mrs Smith's car being driven on to a ferry leaving Dover in December 2007 and alerted Interpol.
Smith was later named as one of Britain's most wanted fugitives.
Mrs Smith and Rebecca were officially treated as missing by police in Britain, and appeals were made for information about them.
Neighbours at the £250,000 Lichfield house said police searched the garden following the family's disappearance.
Meanwhile the Smiths arrived in Spain, where Mrs Smith retrained as a teacher in Barcelona and their son Daniel was born last June.
Mrs Smith opened a nursery in the city aimed at British families and Spanish parents who wanted their youngsters to learn English. Parents were charged £17 an hour.
The family lived in a sixth-floor flat in the same street as Kylie Minogue's boyfriend Andres Velencoso.
Mrs Smith said that while they had struggled for money, 'we felt settled and like we had completed our family'.
But last month the flat was burgled and Mrs Smith reported it to police. She told the publicist that she feared this had triggered her partner's arrest.
He was seized by Spanish police using a European arrest warrant on May 8 and faced magistrates in Carlisle, accused of 13 offences allegedly committed between 1995 and 2005.
The court heard that his alleged victim claims she was regularly assaulted from an early age.
Smith, originally from North Shields, Tyneside, was remanded in custody and is due before Carlisle Crown Court on June 7. He denies the charges.

Martin Anthony Smith, in a pose to publicise his career as a spiritualist, was arrested in Barcelona for child rape last week

Between 2005 and 2007, Lianne Smith was head of the Extended Schools Department, part of the children's services department of Cumbria County Council, set up to safeguard children aged between three and 14.

She was responsible for services in schools and children's centres, and spearheaded the flagship 'Every Child Matters' programme.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk