Mother jailed after confessing to child killings

A mother who admitted suffocating her two children with a plastic bag in a Spanish hotel room is spending her first full day in prison.

Lianne Smith, 43, was transferred to jail in Girona, Spain, after a judge ruled that a case should be brought against her.

Rebecca, five, and her 11-month-old brother Daniel were found dead at the Hotel Miramar in Lloret de Mar, on the Costa Brava, on Tuesday.

Their mother, who confessed to the horrific killings in notes left at the crime scene, appeared in court in nearby Blanes yesterday.

Judge Rafael Fernandez remanded her in custody at the end of the hearing, which was held behind closed doors and lasted several hours.

The children died around the time Smith's partner Martin Smith, 45, was extradited to Britain to face child sex charges.

Reports in Spain suggested they were killed on Monday night and that their mother spent the night in her hotel room with their bodies.

The court heard that Smith, who is believed to have run a nursery in Barcelona, was worried the authorities would take her children away.

The judge's ruling noted: "Smith said in her statement that social services in the UK wanted to take her children away and that despite knowing she was sought by the authorities, she decided to escape to Spain."

The judge ruled that the investigation be conducted "in secret" owing to the public alarm sparked by the tragic incident.