Teenager guilty of girl's murder
Rosie was found face down on a bed
A teenager has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a 10-year-old girl at a Christmas party.
Paul Smith, 18, of Sedgebrook, Lincs, denied killing Rosie May Storrie at the party in Leicestershire last year.
The jury at Nottingham Crown Court heard she was found face down on a bed as her parents chatted with guests downstairs at the house in Normanton.
The judge ordered Smith, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome - a form of autism, should serve at least 14 years.
I am sure that you are and have been for some time now a considerable danger to young girls
Mr Justice Astill
Sentencing Smith, High Court Judge Mr Justice Astill said: "You made a determined attack upon this young child, long enough and forcefully enough to overcome the considerable struggle which she put up to survive to prevent you from suffocating her.
"I have no doubt that your reason was sexual.
"Once you had overcome her you stripped her clothing from her and it is reasonable on all the evidence I have heard to assume that it was the shouts of your family wondering where you were that stopped you going further."
Paul Smith: Made a "determined attack"
He added: "I do not know if this disturbing part of your personality arises from the condition from which you undoubtedly suffer but I am sure that you are and have been for some time now a considerable danger to young girls."
The teenager, who denied murdering Rosie May, had said he did not see the girl upstairs at the party.
Bullied at school for his stilted speech and learning difficulties, Smith was always seen as the "odd kid".
Like many sufferers of Asperger's Syndrome, the 18-year-old lacked social skills and hated crowded situations, such as the fateful party on 30 December 2003.
The court heard that when Rosie May started making fun of the older boy, he lost control and smothered the 10-year-old to death.
Despite desperate attempts to resuscitate her, the youngster from Bottesford in Leics died 36 hours later.
His parents, Nigel and Susan Smith, claimed from the start their "vulnerable" son had been blamed for the killing because he was an "easy target".
― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 28 October 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)