GUILTY UK - Louise Smith, 16, Havant, Hampshire, 8 May 2020 *Arrest*

[Harchmare]

By his own admission he does not like Louise but is going to take her shopping for clothes and decorate her new room when they move to a larger flat.

And he's happy that she can open up to him... Why would you even want that if you don't like the person?

 

[Harchmare]

11:23JAMIE PHILLIPS
Louise wanted to go into Havant Thicket clearing, court hears
Having made their way to Havant Thicket, Mays says the pair had started to walk along a path back towards the Leigh Park area, but Louise saw a clearing she wanted to go into - the same clearing where she would be found dead 13 days later., the court hears.

We started walking home as she needed to see Bradley [Louise's boyfriend]. Louise wanted to go into the clearing.

Mr Newton-Price asks: "You were walking down the path in the direction of Leigh Park and she says to you 'I want to go in this bit here or something like that?'"

Mays agrees.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as accused continues to give evidence

 

[Harchmare]

7 minutes ago
More on Mays’s route
From Havant Thicket Pond, Mays and Louise walked across to the west, and down towards Swanmore Road, where the defendant’s mother lives.

Mays has told the court that heading back was his idea, because she was meant to be meeting her boyfriend Bradley at 3pm.

The blue line on the map represents this path.

Louise Smith murder trial: Live updates as Shane Mays set to give evidence

 

[Bogyo13]

So the defence are making him out to be Hagred's little brother, with low IQ and not able to understand his own strength and the consequences of hitting someone until their facial bones crack.

If he were telling the truth, and it was a flash of anger, knowing how he left her, wouldn't he have gone back to see if she was ok? A flash of anger is just that. It passes and then regret/concern should have kicked in. But it didn't it would seem.

Poor Hagrid! He would never do such evil things. He is very kind.

 

[Bogyo13]

I am glad to hear the prosecution is not taking his rubbish. Clearly made up.
Bonding and decorating?! She wanted to leave not move with them. Also, getting a bigger council house is not that easy, get your cousin move in and we give you bigger accommodation within weeks? Haha. There's waiting lists going with years waiting in my county, unless emergency housing it takes ages. She lived there for 3-4 weeks. No way was she thinking of her own bedroom decoration, especially not when she was planning to move MOO

 

[Harchmare]

Court 1 T20207045
SHANE LEE MAYS
Trial (Part Heard) - Legal Submissions - 11:19

 

[Harchmare]

I am glad to hear the prosecution is not taking his rubbish. Clearly made up.
Bonding and decorating?! She wanted to leave not move with them. Also, getting a bigger council house is not that easy, get your cousin move in and we give you bigger accommodation within weeks? Haha. There's waiting lists going with years waiting in my county, unless emergency housing it takes ages. She lived there for 3-4 weeks. No way was she thinking of her own bedroom decoration, especially not when she was planning to move MOO

Hm she did want to call them mum & dad within a matter of weeks, but still.

His whole story about the walk and the reasons for it is a load of codswallop. How many versions have we heard?

- he took her to the skate park
- he went to the shop and she went out
- they went for a walk together and bonded while she led the way (didn't he creep her out with his flirting?)

MOO

 

[Harchmare]

12 minutes ago
Into the clearing
After this, Mays and Louise Smith entered a clearing with two logs.

Prosecuting, James Newton-Price QC said: ‘Louise’s body was found on the other side of those logs.'

Mays said: ‘We spoke about Bradley [her boyfriend] and how everybody argues, it’s not just them two. Then she started talking about drugs.'

Louise Smith murder trial: Live updates as Shane Mays set to give evidence

 

[polerina]

I wonder if he managed to get her to go with him to that area by saying he would give her some spending money, but he needed to go to his mum's house to get the money, saying she owed him £20 or something? I'm not convinced she went all that way with him to smoke some weed, they could have done that anywhere, unless he said he was going to 'pick up' some weed for her and she went with him?

 

[Harchmare]

2 minutes ago
Mays claims Louise attacked him first
When the two fell out over Louise asking to take cannabis again, Louise struck Mays with a branch, the defendant told the court.

He said the attack hit his left side and ‘hurt’ - but cannot remember any bruising or scarring.

After this, he landed many blows to her face, but said he ‘isn’t sure’ why he aimed for her head.

‘She wound me up, and the night before got to me,’ Mays said.

‘She went missing and it caused lots of trouble.’

Mr Newton-Price QC said: ‘That was in the day - she was back by 4pm and according to you everything was fine that night.’

Louise Smith murder trial: Live updates as Shane Mays set to give evidence

 

[polerina]

Hm she did want to call them mum & dad within a matter of weeks, but still.

His whole story about the walk and the reasons for it is a load of codswallop. How many versions have we heard?

- he took her to the skate park
- he went to the shop and she went out
- they went for a walk together and bonded while she led the way (didn't he creep her out with his flirting?)

MOO

I wonder if the whole wanting to call them mum and dad was a way for her to try and impose a more 'normalised' relationship between her and S. If he were put into a fatherly role he couldn't (shouldn't) flirt with her or make her feel uncomfortable. Maybe she wanted to make him act like a parental figure and thought calling him Dad would make him see her as a child? It's desperatly sad if that's the case. Mind you, it is desperatly sad anyway, this young lady just needed some bloody stability and love.

 

[Harchmare]

2 minutes ago
Mays admits he ‘may have’ caused Louise’s death
After repeated punches to her face, Mays left Louise in the clearing - telling the court he ‘wasn’t in the right mind’.

Mr Newton-Price, prosecuting, asked: ‘Do you accept that you caused her death?’

‘I may have done,’ Mays replied.

After this, Mays has continued to repeat that he ‘didn’t kill’ Louise, insisting she was alive when he walked away from her as he could hear her moaning.

Louise Smith murder trial: Live updates as Shane Mays set to give evidence

 

[Sooty]

I wonder if the whole wanting to call them mum and dad was a way for her to try and impose a more 'normalised' relationship between her and S. If he were put into a fatherly role he couldn't (shouldn't) flirt with her or make her feel uncomfortable. Maybe she wanted to make him act like a parental figure and thought calling him Dad would make him see her as a child? It's desperatly sad if that's the case. Mind you, it is desperatly sad anyway, this young lady just needed some bloody stability and love.

for what it’s worth I think during her time with CJ, CJ appears to have attempted to have given her some structure, discipline and stability. She attempts to enforce the curfew, attempts to steer her away from drugs etc. There don’t appear to have been many resources available to them to make this pathway an appealing one, but from the text message conversations etc CJ comes across as caring about her welfare. I think, like many teenagers, Louise was struggling with those rules, frustrated by the limits of her current situation, and was wanting to assert herself and a growing need for independence. This is how it is for so many teenagers, from all sorts of backgrounds.

 

[Harchmare]

12:06JAMIE PHILLIPS
Mays denies wanting to take Louise to area 'where no one could hear her'


Mr Newton-Price QC asks: "Did you want to get her in a place where no one could hear her if she screamed or shouted?"

Mays denies it. He also says he did not ask Louise where she was going.

He says she wanted to go into a small clearing and sit on some logs.

The jury is then shown the logs from the clearing.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as accused continues to give evidence

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

He contradicts his own story quite a bit IMO.

 

[Sooty]

From the messages Louise sent to a friend on the morning before she left the house with SM - there’s an indication that a conversation/ negotiation had taken place about her being allowed to smoke cannabis again and that she had a plan to meet someone who would give her ‘what she needed’. This is likely why she ended up in the thicket with SM IMO.

 

[Harchmare]

12:11JAMIE PHILLIPS
Argument broke out about drugs, court hears
We spoke about Bradley and how everyone argues and it is not just them that argues and then she started talking about drugs.

Mays and Louise discussed Bradley on multiple occasions through their hour-long walk as the teenager "kept bringing it up".

He adds:

She said she wants to start taking it [weed] again. I disagreed as it could play on her mental health.

She didn't respond well. She said she wants to keep doing it [weed] as it keeps her stronger and it makes her feel alive.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as accused continues to give evidence

 

[polerina]

for what it’s worth I think during her time with CJ, CJ appears to have attempted to have given her some structure, discipline and stability. She attempts to enforce the curfew, attempts to steer her away from drugs etc. There don’t appear to have been many resources available to them to make this pathway an appealing one, but from the text message conversations etc CJ comes across as caring about her welfare. I think, like many teenagers, Louise was struggling with those rules, frustrated by the limits of her current situation, and was wanting to assert herself and a growing need for independence. This is how it is for so many teenagers, from all sorts of backgrounds.

Yeah I agree, it does seem like CJ made a conserted effort to impose some boundaries. I think the pandemic and lockdown probably had a big impact also, the kind of services that might normally be available to offer support wouldn't have been in action. It may have been more difficult to see a social worker, GP etc.

 

[Harchmare]

2 minutes ago
Defendant claims he has ‘no memory’ post-attack
Shane Mays claimed that after his attack on Louise, he forgot everything that happened.

He said: ‘I have a problem with remembering things.’

Mr Newton-Price QC said: ‘You have told us all about the things you discussed and the route you took. You told us about going to the clearning and the conversation you had. How could you forget Louise was with you?’

‘I don’t know,' he replied.

Louise Smith murder trial: Live updates as Shane Mays set to give evidence

 

[Alyce]

I wonder if he managed to get her to go with him to that area by saying he would give her some spending money, but he needed to go to his mum's house to get the money, saying she owed him £20 or something? I'm not convinced she went all that way with him to smoke some weed, they could have done that anywhere, unless he said he was going to 'pick up' some weed for her and she went with him?

I think he could have spun her a story about going to the Thicket to get some kind of drugs and Louise would be happy to go along, on the promise of being given something. He could then say the meet had to be inside the Thicket, out of sight of the main pathway.
If he was going to his mother's house, he would have gone in the opposite direction, 20 minute walk rather than one hour.