MADRID/LONDON – The husband of a British woman arrested in a Spanish holiday resort on suspicion of murdering her two children was charged with 13 child sex offences in a British court yesterday, British police said.
Martin Smith (45) was extradited to England from Spain and charged with six counts of raping a girl aged under 16, six counts of gross indecency and one of attempted rape.
His wife, Lianne Smith (43), was arrested at a hotel in the Mediterranean resort of Lloret del Mar, 40 miles (64km) northeast of Barcelona, over the deaths of her two children.
British police named them as Rebecca (5) and Daniel (11 months). They would not comment on reports the children had been suffocated. Police said the mother and her daughter had been treated as missing since December 2007.
Martin Smith was arrested on May 7th in Barcelona, two years after he failed to answer bail in connection with a range of sex offences, according to Crimestoppers, a police-backed charity that appeals for help in solving crimes.
He was named last September on a “most wanted” list of suspects sought by British police and was believed to be living in Spain. Crimestoppers said the allegations against him dated from April 1995 to April 2005.
He was arrested and extradited as part of Operation Captura, a joint campaign by Spanish and British police to detain people in Spain suspected of committing crimes in Britain.
The father appeared at Carlisle Magistrates Court yesterday after being extradited on Tuesday.
“During the court hearing it was disclosed . . . Smith’s wife . . . has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of his two children,” police in Cumbria said in a statement.
“We are saddened by these tragic events and are supporting members of the extended family.”
Police in Barcelona said they expected the children’s mother to appear before a judge in Spain today. Her husband is due back in court in England on June 7th.