‘Pure evil’ uncle given life for beating niece to death
THE heartbroken mother of teenager Louise Smith branded her murderer ‘pure evil’ as he was jailed for life with a minimum of 25 years.
Rebbecca Cooper said she will never forgive Shane Mays, 30, for beating her 16-year-old daughter to death before defiling and burning her body.
The ‘predatory’ killer lured Louise – his wife’s niece – to a secluded spot where he repeatedly punched her in the face, causing fatal injuries.
He smirked as he sat in the dock to be sentenced at Winchester crown court after being found guilty by a jury.
In a statement, Ms Cooper said: ‘You killed my daughter Louise in such a traumatic way but then to do what you did afterwards is beyond words. You are a monster. What gave you the right to do that? You damaged her so bad that I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, hold her hand or even kiss her. I will never forgive you for this.’ Louise’s father Bradley Smith said he was now ‘tortured by nightmares’.
‘Vulnerable’ student Louise moved in with her aunt Chazlynn Jayne Mays and her killer (pictured) at the end of April after quarrelling with her mother, the court heard.
Rows broke out between the trio as they shared a small flat in Havant, Hampshire.
And Louise complained to her boyfriend Bradley Kercher that Mays – who had an ‘extremely low’ IQ of 63 – would ‘flirt’ with her and pin her down. Prosecutors said he persuaded her to go to the woods by offering cannabis, with the aim of sexually assaulting her. Mays, who admitted manslaughter, told the court he punched Louise ‘many’ times to the face and had heard her bones ‘crack’ after losing his temper. The judge, Mrs Justice May, said he ‘committed the most gross abuse of trust’ and she was ‘not persuaded his learning disability tempered this in any way’.