Mother jailed for life for murdering toddler daughter Ayeeshia Smith

Jailed: Kathryn Smith will spend a minimum of 24 years in prison
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Jamie Bullen11 April 2016
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A mother who stamped her toddler daughter to death has been sentenced to life behind bars.

Kathryn Smith, 23, was sentenced to spend a minimum of 24 years in prison today after she was convicted of murder by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court.

The court heard during a six-week trial how 21-month-old Ayeeshia Jane Smith died of a fatal heart laceration in May, 2014.

Smith was also found guilty of child cruelty and her 22-year-old ex-partner Matthew Rigby was convicted of causing or allowing the death of the vulnerable toddler.

Tragic: 21-month-old Ayeeshia died in May 2014
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Rigby was jailed for three years and six months but was cleared of murder. Both defendants denied having anything to do with the child’s death.

Jailing Smith, judge Mrs Justice Geraldine Andrews said: "You are a devious, manipulative, selfish, young woman who would stop at nothing to get your own way.

"To that end you were prepared to tell lie after lie."

She added: "Ayeeshia was a particularly vulnerable victim, thin and slight of frame, deserving of protection and under the protection of social services for the whole of her short life.

'Manipulative': The judge said Kathryn Smith 'would stop at nothing' to get her own way
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"She was killed in her own home by her own mother - that is the grossest breach of trust."

Ayeeshia was known to Derbyshire social services from birth and had been in care in mid-2013 before she was returned to her mother’s custody.

After her death it emerged she suffered an undiagnosed bleed on the brain during a collapse in February 2014, despite being taken to hospital.

A post-mortem examination uncovered a series of injuries including extensive bruising on her spine which her mother and her partner said claimed was caused when she fell off her potty.

After the pair were convicted, the toddler’s father Ricky Booth said in a statement: “It's pure evil, no punishment is good enough and nothing will bring AJ back and I will always be left with the guilt that I wasn't able to protect her."

Speaking outside court, Detective Inspector Andy Maxfield, of Staffordshire Police, said: "Some people stand here and they say things like they're pleased with sentences, I always think that's a bit wrong. No sentence is ever going to reflect what's taken place and what happened to Ayeeshia.

"Kathryn Smith is a vile, manipulative individual, the judge said as much, and I think the fact that she's going to prison for a minimum term of 24 years is appropriate."

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