Monster who raped and murdered 10-year-old girl after killing her mother is caged

Feb 6 2010 Paisley Daily Express

HEARTBROKEN relatives of Diane and Holly Fallon yesterday watched their evil killer being led away to begin a life sentence and told him: “Rot in hell”.

Judge Lord Turnbull has ordered evil sex beast Thomas Smith to serve a minimum of 32 years behind bars – and told the monster it will be up to a parole board to decide if he is EVER released from prison.

Former soldier Smith yesterday admitted raping and murdering 10-year-old Holly after killing her mum Diane.

The convicted sex offender choked Diane and Holly at his home with a PlayStation cable using a technique he perfected in the Army.

Smith, 26, then dumped their corpses before later claiming to police he had “accidentally” killed the pair.

Diane was originally from Paisley but was living in the tiny hamlet of Cronberry, Ayrshire, at the time of her death.

The court heard how the Fallons and Smith – who was jailed in 2006 in England for abusing a 10-year-old girl – were neighbours in Cronberry.

Derek Ogg QC, prosecuting, said 43-year-old Diane and Smith had a “platonic friendship,” although she was unaware he was a registered sex offender.

On the day of the killings on March 28 last year, Diane and her daughter – described as a “popular and intelligent child” – took part in a community fete.

Smith, who was celebrating his birthday that day, returned home with his uncle David.

That evening, Smith and mum-of-four Diane exchanged texts and arranged to play on his new pool table at his flat.

Smith, a former private who served with the Royal Logistics Corps, had collected two pairs of pyjamas which were given to him as a present for Holly by a friend of her mum’s.

Mr Ogg said Holly made her last ever entry in her treasured diary as she looked forward to visiting Smith’s flat.

It read: ‘Dear diary, I am in Tom’s house. My mum and he are playing snooker. I want to play and I hope I can. Love you, bye.’

Just hours later, Smith brutally murdered the mum and daughter.

The following lunchtime, a 15-year-old boy went to the Fallons’ home and heard a voice saying: “Ssh, Holly.”

The boy went back home to tell his parents but they thought nothing of it at the time.

Maureen Cardie – the headteacher at Holly’s primary school – became concerned after she failed to attend for days.

A friend of Diane later reported to police that the mum and daughter were missing and a massive hunt got under way.

Diane’s bag and purse were found during a search of their home and Holly’s Nintendo DS games console, which she took everywhere, was also discovered.

It soon became evident that unemployed Smith was the last person to see them alive.

On April 8, Smith confessed to his dad that he had “accidentally” murdered the pair after Diane had come at him with a knife.

Mr Smith then went to the police, who quizzed his sex offender son.

After he handed himself in, Smith told detectives: “I put the cable round her neck to try and knock her out. At that point, the lassie came into my house to look for her and seen what was going on.

“The lassie tried to get me off her. I was trying to shout at her to tell her what was happening. She wouldn’t listen. She kept shouting.

“She kept pulling. Diane was swinging the knife at me. I was scared she was going to get up. I did the same to Holly while I was holding her mum.”

Smith also said that he had tried to use an Army technique to make them unconscious and denied any sexual contact with Holly.

He added that he then pushed the bodies out of his living room window and put them in his car before driving to a bridge near Lugar, Ayrshire, where he threw Holly’s corpse into the water.

Smith hid the body with rocks and bricks and then dumped Diane’s corpse in undergrowth outside the village of Craigens.

Holly’s semi-naked remains were found submerged under water at 4.20pm on April 8.

Around 100 boulders had been used to weigh down the body and detectives described the discovery as like “a cairn under water.”

Holly’s new pyjama bottoms were tied round her right ankle and her face was covered with a jacket.

Smith’s DNA was found on a used condom which was discovered at the side of a bridge on the roadway.

Diane’s body was discovered four miles from her home at 5pm. Her hands were tied behind her back with a computer cable and she had been eaten by wild animals.

She was found to have a fractured skull and pelvis and three broken ribs, as well as fractures to bones in her throat. The cause of death was compression of the neck.

Diane also suffered blunt force trauma to her head and had injuries to her private parts.

The court heard she may have only survived for less than 35 minutes after the head injuries were inflicted.

Holly was found to have sustained blunt force trauma to her head and significant internal injuries after being raped. Smith’s DNA was found on her body.

The cause of her death was strangulation.

Mr Ogg said: “The accused’s only recorded attempts to describe these events contain demonstrable lies, not least his denial of any sexual contact in the murder of Holly.”

He added that, if Smith had not confessed to the double killing, it was not certain the bodies would have been recovered.

The court heard that Smith had been put on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years in 2006 after his abuse of a 10-year-old girl in Teeside.

Strathclyde Police were aware of his registration but he had not come to their attention while he lived in Cronberry.

Donald Findlay QC, defending, said: “He is horrified at what he has done. To say he regrets it would go no way to describe how he feels within himself.

“I have spent many hours with the young man. I have told him it is in his interests to tell me more. However, he tells me he has nothing more to say.

Sentencing Smith at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday, Judge Lord Turnbull said he had “set a benchmark for atrocity below which it is difficult to imagine anyone sinking.”

Lord Turnbull told him: “You have chosen not to say what you did to this mother and daughter and you have chosen not to say why you did this terrible thing.

“Their family and friends are left with the dread that Holly may have been kept alive and abused for some time after her mother died.

“What you did to each of your victims was sadistic torture. You told nothing like the truth about how each had been murdered.

“Even in these courts, where we see the worst of humanity, your conduct stands out as exceptional.

“I must set a minimum period to take account of the terrible physical injuries inflicted on each victim and then you disposed of their bodies in the most callous manner imaginable.”

The double funeral of Diane and Holly took place in Paisley last April.

Yesterday, grief-stricken members of the Fallon family said they believe the sentence handed out to Smith means justice has been done for Diane and Holly.

Diane’s sister Deborah Weir added: “Diane was a loving mother, daughter, sister and aunt and Holly was a beautiful sister, grand-daughter, niece and cousin.

“We can take some comfort from knowing that he is going away for a very long time.”

And Diane’s mum Frances said: “He was friends with Diane and he did this for no reason. We are finding it hard but we are trying our best.”

Detective Chief Superintendent John Mitchell of Strathclyde Police said: “This was a despicable crime that has devastated a family and shocked the country.

“Anyone who was in court today would have heard the account of the two particularly harrowing sexual murders of Diane and Holly.

The severity of these crimes was clear when the sentence of 32 years minimum was handed down. Thomas Smith deserves to be behind bars. Today justice was done.

“We would like to thank Diane and Holly’s family for their support throughout what must have been a unbelievably difficult period. Their efforts assisted us greatly throughout the investigation.

“It is only right that we have conducted a full review into the management of Thomas Smith. We shall be sharing the content of this review with the family and then submitting it to an independent, multi agency process. If lessons can be learned from this case, rest assured they will be.”