Baby-death mother wins right to appeal conviction
AMOTHER jailed for life for the murder of her baby daughter has won the right to have her case re-examined by the Appeal Court.
Michelle Smith, 38, was found guilty in 2012 of murdering her sixweek-old daughter, Amy, by dosing her with adult painkillers.
Smith, of Brynawel Cimla, Neath, denied poisoning Amy in 2007, despite having initially confessed to the police that she “did it”.
She was, however, convicted of murder and jailed for life at Swansea Crown Court on July 6, 2012.
Smith was ordered to serve at least 12 years behind bars before she could even apply for parole. However, senior judges at London’s Criminal Appeal Court yesterday allowed her to resurrect her previously abandoned bid to overturn her conviction.
The court heard that Amy died in hospital after the drug dihydrocodeine was found in her blood.
In January 2012, four years after the baby’s death, Smith walked into a police station, and said: “I did it”, before retracting her confession minutes later.
She later denied responsibility but was found guilty by a jury, Lady Justice Hallett, Mr Justice Blake and Mrs Justice Andrews heard.
Trial judge Mr Justice Spencer said that only Smith knew why she “chose to deliberately administer that drug to a helpless baby”.
He added: “In all probability you were craving and seeking attention from the doctors in the hospital”.
The court heard yesterday that she lodged a bid for permission to appeal in 2013, but that application had been abandoned without her knowledge.
Mrs Justice Andrews said: “She knew nothing about it at all and those who abandoned it had no authority to do so.
“This court has no choice in the circumstances but to treat the abandonment as a nullity.”
A single appeal court judge will now re-examine the merits of the case and, if necessary, grant an extension of time for her to lodge an appeal.
Mrs Justice Andrews warned thatdespite clearing the first hurdle, Smith still faces “formidable obstacles” on the road to clearing her name.