A drug addicted child killer, who stamped her 21-month-old daughter to death. is appealing against her conviction for murder.<\/p>\n
Kathryn Smith was jailed for life in April with a minimum of 24 years.<\/p>\n
Her ex-partner, Matthew Rigby, 22, was convicted of causing or allowing the child’s death, but cleared of murder.<\/p>\n
The child, Ayeeshia, who weighed just 20lbs when she died, was killed while she cried\u00a0‘stop mummy, stop daddy’.<\/p>\n
Her mother stamped on her chest with such force that\u00a0she suffered a fatal heart injury, three broken ribs and bit through her own tongue.<\/p>\n
Experts said her injuries were so severe she resembled a high-speed car crash victim.<\/p>\n
Smith, from Swadlincote, Derbyshire, today challenged her conviction at the Court of Appeal in London.<\/p>\n
Her barrister, John Butterfield QC,\u00a0argued her conviction was ‘unsafe’ because of an interruption by the trial judge during the defence’s closing speech.<\/p>\n
Mr Butterfield, who represented Smith at the trial, said Mrs Justice Andrews’\u00a0intervention caused ‘prejudice’ in the minds of jurors.<\/p>\n
He said: ‘The judge weighed in and weighed in in a way that was\u00a0wrong, I say, on a number of different levels, in the middle of defence\u00a0counsel’s closing address.<\/p>\n
‘It is hard to understate just how devastating this was to the credibility\u00a0of the defence case. To trespass on the closing remarks at all was a risk and was likely to have\u00a0consequences.’<\/p>\n
But\u00a0Christopher Hotten QC, who prosecuted her, denied the\u00a0judge\u2019s interruption rendered the conviction unsafe.<\/p>\n
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, sitting with Mr Justice Wyn Williams\u00a0and Mr Justice Goss, are expected to give a ruling in the New Year.<\/p>\n
But Lord Thomas said if her conviction appeal does not succeed they would\u00a0review the minimum jail term handed to Smith.<\/p>\n
Smith was attacked by fellow inmates at the notorious Foston Hall women’s prison in Derbyshire in May. The mob claimed they were avenging Ayeeshia’s death at the hands of the child killer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Source:http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-3987474\/Mother-stamped-21-month-old-daughter-hard-tore-heart-apart-launches-appeal-against-conviction.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"