9 Jun, 2010 @ 11:53
1 min read

Funeral of children murdered in Spain

THE funeral of two children suffocated by their mother in a Costa Brava hotel room has taken place.

Rebecca Smith, five, and her 11-month-old brother Daniel, were buried during a private ceremony in Lloret de Mar – the town where they were killed.

Mother Lianne Smith – who has been charged with their murders at the Hotel Miramar – was not allowed out of jail to attend.

And father Martin Anthony Smith – formerly one of Britain’s ‘most-wanted’- has been remanded in custody in Carlisle for unrelated child sex offences.

Although attended by 40 mourners, not one family member was present for the ceremony.

Last month, Smith, 45, from North Tyneside, was extradited to the UK from Barcelona to face 13 charges.

British consular officials and representatives of the town’s civic administration attended the service.

“Rebecca and Daniel’s parents authorised a local funeral director to make funeral arrangements,” said a Foreign Office spokesperson. “Neither parent was able to attend.”

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

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