Louise Smith murder: Mother of teenager tells daughter’s killer ‘you are a monster’ as he is jailed for life
Written by News on 10/12/2020
The mother of a teenager who was murdered and her body set on fire has said her daughter’s killer is a “monster” who has shown “no remorse” for her brutal death.
Shane Mays, 30, was jailed for life on Wednesday with a minimum term of 25 years for killing 16-year-old Louise Smith in Havant, Hampshire, on 8 May.
He is believed to have lured the teenager to a secluded woodland spot on VE Day, with the aim of sexually assaulting her, before repeatedly punching her in the face, causing fatal injuries.
He then defiled her using a stick, before burning her body – which was found 13 days later after a police search.
In a victim statement read at Winchester Crown Court, Louise’s mother Rebecca Cooper said: “You killed my daughter Louise in such a traumatic way but then to do what you did afterwards is beyond words. You are a monster. What gave you the right to do that?
“You damaged her so bad that I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, hold her hand or even kiss her. I will never forgive you for this.
“You came to my house the day you killed her, looked me in the eyes with no remorse when you knew what you had done was pure evil. You have made us relive what you did to Louise.”
The victim had recently moved in with Mays and his wife Chazlynn Jayne (CJ) Mays – Louise’s aunt – after an argument with her mother, the court heard.
However, arguments broke out among the trio, with Louise complaining to her boyfriend, Bradley Kercher, that the defendant would “flirt” with her and pin her down.
The jury was shown a Snapchat video of him tickling her feet.
James Newton-Price QC, prosecuting, told the trial: “Louise was just 16, she was anxious, needy, fragile and vulnerable, vulnerable to the attentions of a predatory man who was apparently flirting with her and living in the same small flat.”
The judge, Mrs Justice May, said: “Shane Mays was in a position of trust in relation to Louise; theirs was like a father-daughter relationship.
“That being, he committed the most gross abuse of trust.
“I am not persuaded his learning disability tempered this in any way as Shane Mays plainly recognised Louise was young, had mental health difficulties and was in his and CJ’s care.”
“The sudden death of any person is tragic but the death of a vulnerable child is particularly grievous.”
Mays admitted to her manslaughter, and told the court he punched Louise “many” times in her face, and heard her bones “crack” after losing his temper.
He said: “I just carried on, I lost control of myself. She made a moaning noise, that’s when I stopped.”
Louise’s blood was found on Mays’ shoes and a billion-to-one DNA match was found on the stick.
A clinical review of Mays for the jury was told the defendant had an IQ of 63 – putting him in the bottom 1% of people, with Andrew Langdon QC, representing Mays, adding he was assessed as having learning difficulties and a personality disorder.
(c) Sky News 2020: Louise Smith murder: Mother of teenager tells daughter’s killer ‘you are a monster’ as he is jailed for life
