By Sheila Mckenzie-
Evil killer, Shane Mays, (pictured(from Havant, Hampshire, was given a life sentence for the brutal and callous murder of Louise Smith, a girl he had allegedly been flirting with before news of the flirting was shared with her boyfriend, between the trio.
The 30 year old must serve a minimum sentence of 25 years for the evil murder. Mays used the prospect of sharing a spliff with her to lure the vulnerable young girl for a walk, where he would heartlessly end her life and come back and face her mother like nothing had occurred.
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Louise’s sorrowful mother branded him ”pure evil”, after he smirked as he sat in the dock to be sentenced at Winchester Crown Court for the murder of the 16-year-old on VE Day.
The defendant, described by prosecutors as “predatory”, lured the 16-year-old to the secluded spot in Havant Thicket where he repeatedly punched her in the face, causing her fatal injuries.
He then defiled her with a stick before burning her body, which was found 13 days later following a major police search. The murder was described by the judge as callous.
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A clinical review of the defendant found he had an “extremely low” IQ of 63, putting him in the bottom one percentile of people. The killer told the court he had not worked for five years and spent nine hours a day playing video games.
Personality Disorder
Andrew Langdon QC, representing Mays, said the defendant had been assessed as having learning difficulties and a personality disorder, an argument that wouldn’t spare him jail in the end.
Tragic Ms Smith had moved in with the defendant and his wife Chazlynn Jayne (CJ) Mays – the victim’s aunt – at the end of April , following a quarrel with her mother, the court heard.
Arguments broke out between the trio after Louise complained to her boyfriend, Bradley Kercher, that Mays would “flirt” with her and pin her down, and the jury was shown a Snapchat video of him tickling her feet.
Murdered: Tragic Louise Smith
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.”
He suggested Mays had persuaded Louise to walk with him to the woodland by offering her cannabis with the aim of sexually assaulting her.
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.”
Traumatic
In a victim impact statement read to court, Louise’s mother Rebbecca 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.”
She described her daughter, who wanted to be a veterinary nurse, as “happy and smiley” who “had the world to look forward to”.
Nightmares
Louise’s father Bradley Smith said he was “tortured by nightmares”, and added: “Louise was a beautiful daughter and I have been robbed of what was to be my time with her.”
Mays, who admitted manslaughter, told the court he punched Louise “many” times to the face and had 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’s trainer and a billion-to-one DNA match to him was found on the stick.
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