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

[Harchmare]

1 minute ago
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Mr Newton-Price is talking through Mays’ defence that he did not burn or defile Louise’s body.

‘How likely is it someone is going to chance upon her body in the woods?’

The prosecutor says it took 306 people involved in the six-day search, with drones and dogs, to find Louise in the woods, with ‘hard, careful, diligent police work to find the body’.

Louise Smith trial: Live updates as Shane Mays jury told to put aside emotions

 

[Harchmare]

2 minutes ago
Mays ‘cannot face it’
The defendant ‘was quite literally hoping to get away with murder,’ Mr Newton-Price says.

Mays ‘will not face up to the full extent of what he has done to Louise Smith,' he adds.

‘He simply cannot face it. He can’t bring himself to admit the shocking way in which he treated her body.'

1 minute ago
Court breaks for lunch
The court has now adjourned until 2.10pm, with defence counsel Andrew Langdon QC expected to make his closing speech then.

Louise Smith trial: Live updates as Shane Mays jury told to put aside emotions

 

[Alyce]

So it was quite a secluded area of the Thicket, even though an open clearing. I guess lockdown kept people ( children ) from being in the area.
Pleased the Prosecution emphasised that it is still murder even if the person only intended to cause GBH.

 

[Harchmare]

13:15KEY EVENT
Louise Smith suffered 'catastrophic and disfiguring' injuries, court hears
Mr Newton-Price adds that it is "no defence" for Shane Mays to claim he lost his temper.

Spoiler: graphic

Even when he saw the blood and heard the cracks he carried on. The shattering of her facial bones, the total separation of the jaw bone from her facial skull. The injuries to her head and face were catastrophic and disfiguring.

From his own accounts and admissions you may reasonably and fairly conclude that he had intended to do her grievous bodily harm at the very least and hat would be enough to prove murder. It is no defence to say 'I lost my temper'. It is no defence to say 'I lost control'.

You cannot get away with murder because you lost it. Repeated blows to the head and cause serious harm. We know how dangerous it is to punch someone in the head repeatedly. He accepted it was a dangerous place to punch someone, especially many times over.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as jury told to put 'strong emotions' aside

 

[Harchmare]

13:21JAMIE PHILLIPS
Prosecutor tells jury about possible motive for alleged murder


Discussing a possible motive for the alleged murder, Mr Newton-Price QC tells the court that Bradley Kercher, Louise's boyfriend, told police that she would tell him Shane Mays would flirt with her.

The prosecutor adds that this is evidence of "how he felt about her".

Bradley Kercher also told police of an occasion where Louise had said Mays put his arm round her when the pair were walking to the shops together.

Mr Newton-Price QC adds:

Shane did not get the response or affection he craved from Louise. That could have made him angry. We know he had a long term issue with controlling his temper.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as jury told to put 'strong emotions' aside

 

[Harchmare]

13:26JAMIE PHILLIPS
Pain 'must have been excruciating', court hears
It is no defence to lose your temper. The law expects you to keep your temper and have self-control. You are not to lash out in a rage. He punched her repeatedly when she must have been screaming when conscious because the pain caused must have been excruciating.

Mr Newton-Price QC then continues to discuss what happened to Louise's body after her death.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as jury told to put 'strong emotions' aside

 

[Harchmare]

13:34JAMIE PHILLIPS
Shane Mays 'chose to afford her no mercy', court hears
Mr Newton-Price QC is dismissing Shane Mays' lack of intellectual function as an excuse for his role in Louise's death.

You have heard Mays is of limited intellectual ability. He is like others of limited ability that can function in society and make rational decisions. He has made strong friendships and held down jobs and can do difficult jobs like DIY. He is good at getting around and was okay [answering] questions in this trial and capable of knowing how to behave with a teenage girl and how not to behave and how to control his temper.

He is responsible for the choices he made. He chose that clearing in the woods. He chose to carry on and may have done much more. He chose to abandon her in the woods and chose really to afford her no mercy.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as jury told to put 'strong emotions' aside

 

[Harchmare]

13:39JAMIE PHILLIPS
Shane Mays' memory was 'convenient', jury is told

Mr Newton-Price QC continues:

He would have you believe that he suffered from sine sort of trauma. Total loss of memory of what happened in the woods and everything that happened before it. Leaving the flat and walking to Havant Thicket. Rather conveniently thus lasted through May and when he was questioned by police and lasted through his interviews on May 14, 15, 16 and 17.

Only when charged with her murder did the mist start to clear and then he remembered everything. He has poor working memory, but that is not the memory of events.

There is no evidence that he had a traumatic disorder of any kind.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as jury told to put 'strong emotions' aside

 

[Harchmare]

13:44JAMIE PHILLIPS
Shane Mays' conflicting information to family and police
Discussing the conflicting information Shane Mays gave to his mother, wife and Bradley Kercher and to the police about where he had gone with Louise, both of which later turned out to be untrue, Mr Newton-Price QC adds:

He said he lied as he was worried about being blamed. He would have had some guilty conscience about what he had done, He had killed her and that is why he lied. It is a lie to the police who are trying to find Louise.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as jury told to put 'strong emotions' aside

 

[Harchmare]

13:48JAMIE PHILLIPS
Prosecutor discusses burning of Louise's body
Who else would have burned Louise's body? Just think about it for a minute. Someone is walking in the woods and see a girl lying in the woods. They would ring the police. not leave the scene to go and get flammable liquids. This is where I call you to use your common sense.

He adds that Shane Mays knew to stand back and this was why no evidence was found connecting him to the burning of Louise's body.

If you know how to build and set up a fire as he does, let's face it, he would have collected the wood to create fires with his friends. He knows to stand back. Shane Mays knows all about starting fires in these woods.

When I asked him what he would to make fires, I expected him to say a match or a lighter. But he came straight out with it. No messing around, you use flammable liquids.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as jury told to put 'strong emotions' aside

 

[Harchmare]

14:04JAMIE PHILLIPS
Prosecutor describes Shane Mays 'relentlessly pounding' Louise Smith

Mr Newton-Price continues:

Asked why didn't you stop. He said 'I couldn't control myself. I could't stop'.

Yes, we say you can stop if you want to. You do not even have to start. It was his choice, his intention to take her there and keep on hitting her. Losing your temper getting yourself into a range, that is not a defence. Relentlessly pounding her head so you shatter her face with fatal consequences. it is not a defence for murder. If the obvious consequences of your actions is to cause serious harm then you may reasonably conclude that serious harm us what was intended.

He did not have to carry on hitting her. It is no defence to say he was worked up.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as jury told to put 'strong emotions' aside

 

[Harchmare]

14:10KEY EVENT
Prosecution closing speech concludes
Mr Newton-Price QC concludes his closing speech:

He lied because he was hoping, quite literally, to get away with murder, but this is not his decision, and not mine either, it is your decision. That is why you are here and soon it will be over to you.

Having considered the matter as 12 reasonably-minded members of the public, you may come to the conclusion that he could not then and cannot now face up to the full extent of what he has done o Louise Smith. He simply cannot face it.

It is your job to face up to it for him, I would submit is your role. Thank you very much.

14:14JAMIE PHILLIPS
Proceedings to resume following lunch break
Proceedings set to resume following a lunch break.

Andrew Langdon QC will begin the closing speech of the defence shortly.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as jury told to put 'strong emotions' aside

 

[Skigh]

14:10KEY EVENT
Prosecution closing speech concludes
Mr Newton-Price QC concludes his closing speech:

He lied because he was hoping, quite literally, to get away with murder, but this is not his decision, and not mine either, it is your decision. That is why you are here and soon it will be over to you.

Having considered the matter as 12 reasonably-minded members of the public, you may come to the conclusion that he could not then and cannot now face up to the full extent of what he has done o Louise Smith. He simply cannot face it.

It is your job to face up to it for him, I would submit is your role. Thank you very much.

14:14JAMIE PHILLIPS
Proceedings to resume following lunch break
Proceedings set to resume following a lunch break.

Andrew Langdon QC will begin the closing speech of the defence shortly.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as jury told to put 'strong emotions' aside

I cannot see the defence speech taking that long.
I wonder if they will try and send out the jury today hoping they will come to a verdict quickly.

 

[Sooty]

There really can’t be much room for doubts, can there?

 

[Harchmare]

DBM

 

[Harchmare]

14:29JAMIE PHILLIPS
Jury's role is 'not to appease public appetite', court hears

Mr Langdon QC opens:

It is your duty not to appease public appetite, but to try the case on the evidence The affirmation that each of you took is simple, but it is at the very heart of our justice system.

Trying evidence not on feelings of revulsion, but on the evidence. If you do that and apply the law to the evidence as you find it then justice will have prevailed.

Louise Smith murder trial updates as jury told to put 'strong emotions' aside

 

[Skigh]

DBM

 

[Harchmare]

28 minutes ago
Jurors are back in court
Mr Langdon QC is now starting his closing speech

4 minutes ago
‘Duty to Louise’
Mr Langdon said accepting all the allegations against Mays without questioning them would be ‘almost failing in your duty to Louise’.

He says: ‘Your duty is not to appease public appetite, but to try the case according to the evidence.’

He has summarised the prosecution case as accusing Mays of acting in a ‘perverted sexual lust’.

5 minutes ago
‘One of the central mysteries’ of the case
Mr Langdon says the question of ‘how did he ever persuade her, if he did, to walk with him all that way that afternoon?' is ‘one of the central mysteries’ of the case.

The barrister asks does Louise ‘have a will or mind of her own,’ or ‘was she timid or pliable’ and ‘did she do as she was told?’

Or, he asks, did Louise ‘do as she pleased’ through a combination of her character and the ‘deprivation of love and stability’ from those who ‘ought to have cared for her’.

‘Did she have a mind of her own? And if she didn’t want to do something how easy was she to persuade?'

Louise Smith trial: Live updates as Shane Mays jury told to put aside emotions

 

[Harchmare]

3 minutes ago
‘Vile’
Louise would ‘readily’ use the word ‘vile’ and did so to describe others, not just Mays and his wife CJ.

‘You have examples of her using that word when describing others,’ he said. ‘You may think it not wise to accept that they had been vile in the sense of some unspeakable or revolting behaviour towards her.’

Louise Smith trial: Live updates as Shane Mays jury told to put aside emotions

 

[Harchmare]

8 minutes ago
Defence: What is CJ’s role in the prosecution case theory?
Mr Langdon talks about the buying of £30 worth of alcohol on the night Louise returns to the Mays’ flat in Ringwood House on May 7.

Questioning the prosecution case theory, he says is it that 'they ply her with drink in order to do what? Sexually abuse her, one takes it.

‘In that what was CJ’s role in that? Given the size of their flat. Given the personalities involved, was she aware of it? Encouraging it?

‘She’s not beside him in the dock, or facing any other criminal allegations, not alleged to be party to some attempt to sexually abuse Louise.'

He says: ‘The prosecution know we can’t be sure of that.'

Mr Langdon asks if it ‘wasn’t simply an inept attempted to celebrate the return of the prodigal Louise’ following her not wanting to live there.

Louise Smith trial: Live updates as Shane Mays jury told to put aside emotions