‘Neomi will always remain with us all’

THE day after Neomi Smith’s hor r i f y i ng mu rde r, Joh n received the kind of visit every parent dreads.

John said: “I thought ‘ who is knocking on the door at this time of the morning?’ The knock got louder and when I answered there were three police officers standing there. They asked if I was John.

“They asked to come in and sat me down and basically said ‘ Neomi is dead’.

“We didn’t get told until 5pm what it was about because two police divisions had to communicate.

“I do think it was a disgrace – how long they took to get me up to date.”

Detective Superintendent Graeme Mackie, of Police Scotland’s major investigation team, said: “Neomi’s next of kin were informed of her death as soon as was practically possible by an appropriately briefed police officer.

“Family liaison officers were then identified and were deployed as soon as practically possible. These officers were able to provide her family with support and an understanding of the ongoing police investigation in a timely manner.

“We fully recognised the impact and distress of this incident on family members from the outset, therefore the provision of support and appropriate i nformation was an absolute priority.

“Our thoughts continue to be with Neomi’s family and friends at this time.”

John accepts police often have to keep details from potential witnesses but feels police could have told him more.

He said: “Initially I thought she had been stabbed a couple of times.

“On her death certificate it said ‘multiple stab wounds’.

“I asked the undertaker – even he said it was a couple of stab wounds.

“Most of it came out in court. I went to that court as blind as everybody else.”

Rizzo denied everything in court – a decision John describes as “cowardly”.

During a four-hour interview with police, Rizzo initially said he found Neomi injured in the flat after hearing a loud bang.

He told his mum while in custody two masked men raided the flat and murdered Neomi.

In court, prosecutor Duncan McPhie described Rizzo’s explanation as “varying, inconsistent and incredible”.

John said: “I’ve never heard so many lies as in those stories.

“While on remand and awaiting trial, Rizzo had two or three weeks to make the story up in Perth Prison, the one about the masked men.”

When Rizzo appeared at the High Court in Glasgow in October last year, he was accused of assaulting three women and threatening another between 2014 and 2019 and it was alleged three of those women were his ex-partners.

Those charges were later dismissed for procedural reasons. It later emerged he had previously been convicted of assaulting an ex-partner.

John described the 10-day court process in Glasgow as “absolutely horrible” as he was, like many, learning the horrific details of the tragedy for the first time, while sitting just yards from Rizzo.

John said: “I sat through most of it. “There were things I didn’t want to sit through – the doctor’s report and things like that.

“I didn’t want to know what damage he did to her.

“I was sat directly behind him, two metres away from him. The family was trying to protect me because they thought I was going to go for him.

“I wasn’t going to do that. We were there to get justice.

“None of our troublemakers.

“The judge told him off twice for smiling but he never looked our way.”

It took the jury just over 90 minutes to convict Rizzo of murdering Neomi.

On hearing the verdict, John shouted: “I hope you rot in hell, you b******.”

John said: “I was numb, I was angry. That was us getting the ‘guilty’ verdict and I stood up and shouted at him. I was the one who got dragged out of court for it.”

In a statement read to the court at the sentencing hearing, Neomi’s family described her as the “life and soul of the party”.

It added: “Her character will always remain with us all. Her smile would light up a room.

“No sentence could be long enough for this vile person.”

family

are

John said: “We actually thought he would get 15 years. He got 22 years.

“It doesn’t matter what he got. It’s still not enough for me because it doesn’t bring Neomi back.

“That’s the hardest thing. He is getting three meals a day watching free Sky TV. Where’s Neomi?

“In 22 years he will be walking the streets.”

John believes murderers should never be released.

He added: “It worries me that he’ll be out one day. I hope he doesn’t get out. I hope someone gets him before he gets out.

“I hope he’s tortured but it’s still not enough because I’ll never get Neomi back.”

According to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, Rizzo has now sought leave to appeal his conviction and sentence and a decision is still to be made.

John said: “I don’t think he’ll ever own up. He’s still taking no responsibility for his actions.

“The appeal shocked me. We don’t know what grounds he is appealing on and this Covid-19 is holding things up, the process, a little bit.”

Neomi Smith