Mother who murdered her 42-day old baby daughter could be freed

EXCLUSIVE: Mother who murdered her 42-day old baby daughter by poisoning her with painkillers could be freed after 12 years in jail

• Exclusive: Michelle Smith could be freed from jail after just 12-years in prison
• The mother was found guilty of murdering her 42-day old baby back in 2007
• Read more: Extremist who called himself the ‘father of terrorism’ walks free 

A mother found guilty of murdering her own 42-day old baby with a powerful painkiller has a parole hearing and could be freed after just 12-years in jail.

Michelle Smith, then 34, was sentenced to life in 2007 after being convicted of feeding adult painkillers to her baby daughter Amy.

A jury at Swansea Crown Court found her unanimously guilty of murdering the defenceless baby at home in Morriston, Swansea, south Wales, in November 2007.

The Parole Board confirmed that Smith, now 46, has been granted an ‘oral’ appeal in June when she will appear before the three person panel.

If she is recommended for release, Smith will be back on the streets a few weeks later.

Michelle Smith, then 34, (pictured outside Swansea Crown Court in 2012) was sentenced to life after being convicted of feeding adult painkillers to her 42-day old baby daughter Amy

The Parole Board confirmed that Smith, now 46, has been granted an ‘oral’ appeal in June when she will appear before the three person panel. Pictured: Swansea Crown Court  

A Parole Board spokesperson said: ‘An oral hearing has been listed for the parole review of Michelle Smith and is scheduled to take place in June 2023.

‘Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

‘A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

‘Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing.

‘Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing.

‘The prisoner and witnesses are then questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more.

‘Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.’

If the panel does not recommend her release, she could be moved to a cushy Category D open prison, normally a step towards eventual freedom.

Smith poisoned baby Amy three times before finally managing to kill her. She crushed tablets of the powerful painkiller dihydrocodeine- prescribed only to adults – and fed it to Amy in her bottle feed

A jury at Swansea Crown Court found her unanimously guilty of murdering the defenceless baby at home in Morriston, Swansea, south Wales, in November 2007. Pictured: A general view of Morriston, Swansea 

Smith poisoned baby Amy three times before finally managing to kill her.

She crushed tablets of the powerful painkiller dihydrocodeine- prescribed only to adults – and fed it to Amy in her bottle feed.

On the first occasion doctors could not find anything wrong with her and sent her home.

The second time she was rushed to hospital urine tests revealed dihydrocodeine- but the results were not passed on to the doctors and Amy was again released.

But the third time it happened Amy could not be revived and she died aged six weeks.

A post mortem revealed the presence of the drug and it was only then that the earlier urine test results became known.

Sentencing, judge Mr Justice Spencer told a sobbing Smith that he believed she killed Amy out of a craving for attention.

He told Smith her actions involved a ‘substantial premeditation’.

He added: ‘The giving of this drug to Amy required, as it must have done, the crushing of tablet or tablets involving a significant degree or planning and premeditation.’

He said Amy was young and vulnerable and that Smith’s actions were ‘a gross abuse of your position as her mother’.

‘In all probability you were in some way craving and seeking attention by presenting Amy to the doctors at hospital.’

The judge told Smith: ‘The only conclusion on all the evidence is that on the day she died you must have crushed one or more tablets that were available in the home.’

He also drew attention to the condition of Amy, described as ‘thriving’ when seen by the health visitor on the day she died.

Within hours she was found in a collapsed state from which she never recovered, dying later the same day.

Concluding, he told her: ‘Inevitably your contact with your other children, the siblings that Amy will never grow to know, has been very substantially curtailed, adding to the tragedy of this case.’

A relative of Smith, who attended court only after the jury retired, wailed in anguish throughout the sentencing.

Several times she was heard to say ‘No, no’, and was eventually taken away to a private room in an obviously distressed state.

A shell shocked Smith was led away in tears still protesting ‘But I did not do it. I did not do it.’

Six-week old Amy Smith died on November 9 2007.

Smith and her husband Christopher, who never attended the trial or gave evidence, were questioned by police in the aftermath of the death.

Both had previously been prescribed medication for various ailments which contained DHC.

It was not until September 2010 that Smith herself was arrested on suspicion of murder.

At that time she was released without charge but was arrested and charged with murder in June 2011 and then released on bail.

In January 2011, she reported to Neath police station as part of her bail conditions and confessed to killing Amy but retracted it almost immediately.

Smith insisted throughout her trial that she had never done anything to harm Amy and never given her DHC.

She dismissed suggestions that she knew drugs stored in their home contained DHC, claiming she never so much as gave Amy Calpol.

Detective Sergeant Justin Evans, of South Wales Police, said after the verdict in July 2012 that he hoped it would help the family move on.

Speaking outside the court, he said: ‘Michelle Smith has today been convicted of the murder of her baby daughter Amy Smith.

‘Amy was only six weeks old when she was killed by the one person who should have done more than any other to keep her safe.

‘Amy Smith would have been approaching her fifth birthday, and Michelle Smith’s actions have left a family without a much loved little girl.

‘Our thoughts are with Amy’s family at this sad time, and we hope that today’s verdict will allow the family to now move on with the rest of their lives.’

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