Lianne Smith Jailed for 30 Years for Murdering her Two Children in Spanish Hotel Room

A British woman who murdered her two children in a Spanish hotel room has been sentenced to 30 years in jail.

Lianne Smith, 45, admitted smothering her 11-month-old son Daniel and five-year-old daughter Rebecca at the Miramar Hotel in Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava on 17 May 2010.

During her trial, her defence claimed the former child protection worker was "psychiatrically disturbed" when she killed her children.

The jury rejected these appeals and unanimously found her guilty after claiming her criminally responsible for the deaths.

In a written sentence issued to the media, Judge Adolfo Garcia Morales jailed Smith for 15 years for each of the murders.

Morales also concluded that also Smith may have suffered a small amount of "mental disturbance" when she killed her children, but not enough to diminish responsibility.

He wrote: "The jury stressed that this mental disturbance was not as important as the defence had argued.

"This was based on facts such as several suicide attempts made by Smith, a statement she gave during which she appeared normal and did not make any significant mistakes as she described what had happened and how it happened, the composition of several coherent notes, and calculations she made in order to pay what she believed she still owed to the hotel."

Smith, originally from Tyneside, claimed she killed her children in order to protect them social services taking them into care.

The killings took place a few days after her partner but not in marriage Martin Smith was extradited to the UK on charges of sexually abusing her eldest daughter from another relationship.

Martin Smith was found guilty of sexually abusing Sarah Richardson, who has waived her right to anonymity, in December 2010 and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Last January, The 46-year-old was found hanged in his cell at Strangeways Prison in Manchester.