A British mother who killed her young son and daughter in a Spanish hotel room was "astonishingly calm" when she showed police their bodies, a court has heard.

Lianne Smith, 45, has admitted smothering five-year-old Rebecca and 11-month-old Daniel with a plastic bag at the Miramar Hotel in Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava in May 2010.

The jury at her trial at the Provincial Court in Girona, northeast Spain, will determine whether she is criminally responsible for the children's deaths.

 

I was shocked by her attitude, the astonishing calmness and coldness she displayed.

Agent 2681, from Catalan regional police force the Mossos d'Esquadra

Her defence is seeking an acquittal, claiming she was in a state of "psychiatric disturbance" and suffering insurmountable fear when the tragedy happened. She could face 38 years in prison if found guilty.

The police officers, who were identified to the court by their badge numbers as is customary in Spain, all agreed that Smith seemed calm when she confessed to the killings the day after carrying them out.

The first officer at the scene said he was sent to the Miramar after a call from the hotel's reception, who he said told him a guest in Room 101 had asked for police and an ambulance to be called.

Describing the moment he entered the room, he said: "I closed the door and told the woman to stay still.

"She just pointed to the bed, and I saw little knuckles, a baby's knuckles, pointing out from under the sheets. First I found a baby and then a little girl, and I could see they were both dead.

"The woman was calm, she was not saying anything, so I went out on the balcony and called the control room to let them know what was happening."

Agent 2681 from the Mossos d'Esquadra, the Catalan regional police force, was sent to the room when it became apparent that a murder investigation was under way.

 

Martin Smith was found hanged in his prison cell in 2010

He said Smith was sitting in the hotel's hall and was "constantly fixing herself up, tying and untying a neckerchief",

Asked by a defence solicitor whether he remembered saying in his original statement that Smith seemed to be in a "catatonic state", the officer replied that he was not a psychologist and would not have been able to determine her mental state.

The statement was shown to judge Adolfo Garcia Morales and the officer accepted he might have described Smith as being catatonic at the time.

"I was shocked by her attitude, the astonishing calmness and coldness she displayed," he said.

Hotel receptionist Anna Savelieva said Smith went down to the Miramar's reception and asked her to call an ambulance and police.

"I asked her if she needed help and she said 'Just call the police, I will talk with them'," she said.

The killings took place shortly after her partner, Martin Smith, was arrested in Barcelona by Spanish police acting on a European arrest warrant.

The family had been living in Spain since 2007 after fleeing Lichfield, Staffordshire, after Smith's eldest daughter by her first husband accused Mr Smith of sexually abusing her.

In December 2010 Martin Smith was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of using hypnotism, bullying and violence to groom and sexually abuse Ms Richardson - who waived the right to anonymity.

Last January, Mr Smith was found hanged in his cell at Strangeways Prison in
Manchester. The trial continues.