Retrial for baby killer
A father who killed his daughter by hurling her into her cot when she was a four-week-old baby must wait a year for his murder retrial.
Dean Smith, 45, admits throwing Maisie Newell across her bedroom after being left to look after her at their home in Edgware, northwest London, on 26 August 2000.
Maisie was rushed to hospital with dreadful injuries to her skull and spine leaving her handicapped for life.
Adoptive parents cared for her until she eventually died at home with them just before her 14th birthday on 28 June 2014.
Warehouse worker Smith admits manslaughter but denies murdering Maisie.
Judge Mark Lucraft discharged a jury earlier this month after they failed to agree on a verdict and gave the prosecution a week to apply for a retrial.
Sally O’Neill, QC, prosecuting said: ‘We had a conference last week involving very senior lawyers who have been involved in the case throughout and it was decided this is a very serious case, and there is no reason not to have a re-trial.
‘The decision has been reached after careful thought that we should have a retrial in this case.’
Smith, of Kingsfield Road, Watford, Herts, denies murder. He has admitted the alternative lesser charge of manslaughter.
His retrial was fixed for 31 August 2021.
ENDS
