Uncle of 'murdered' girl, 16, 'refused to let her out of the house without him' – court hears – as CCTV shows pair shopping on night before he 'cruelly punched her to death and burned her body in sexually motivated attack'

  • Video shows Shane Mays, 30, walking with Louise, 16, day before he killed her 
  • Mays is standing trial for the teenager's murder but has admitted manslaughter
  • He has been called a 'predator' and accused of having 'sexual' reason to kill her 
  • It was claimed he had 'flirted' with his niece by putting arm around her
  • Jurors also saw a clip of Mays looking through Louise's knees and tickling her 

Tragic teenager Louise Smith was seen walking side by side with the uncle who killed her in CCTV footage of the night before her death - as a court heard he refused to let her out of the house without him. 

Aspiring veterinary nurse Louise, 16, strolled with Shane Mays, 30, for him to buy alcohol from a nearby shop just before 8pm on May 7 this year.

But 24 hours later Mays had killed her after punching her to death after claiming he had 'lost his temper'.

The footage of their trip was shown to jurors at Winchester Crown Court, Hants, this morning before evidence from some of Louise's friends.

They heard she 'hated' living with Mays and his wife CJ and sent out a desperate 'help' message 24 hours before her death as well as a picture of herself crying.

The day before she was killed she made plans to move in with her mum's friend Samantha Burt, but 'suddenly' changed her mind that evening.

Friend Chloe Edwards-Guest, 19, who received the picture, said: 'Lou and CJ were arguing quite a bit, CJ wanted her boyfriend Brad gone.

'She would not talk to me properly but told me everything got worse.

'She would not open up to me like she usually would but there was arguments with CJ and Shane. They were being really strict on Lou and she was not allowed her phone at all and she was not allowed out unless it was with Shane, that's my understanding.'

Miss Edwards-Guest said her 'lovely' friend had to lie just to get out of the house and was 'unusually quiet' when they met, but was 'rebellious' by smoking cannabis because she 'didn't care' what Mays thought.

She also told the court Louise's aunt, Sammy Jackson, kicked Louise and her boyfriend Bradley out into the cold over an argument about a lighter.

The friend added: 'They literally had nowhere to go, it was quite late and raining and cold. It was not a condition you would kick a 16 year old girl out in.

'She had a little bag on her shoulder and her toiletries, I had to give her a bag of clothes, some spare clothes I had.'

Samantha Burt, a former friend of Louise's mum, often cared for the teenager and let her stay. On May 7, 24 hours before the teen's death, Miss Burt responded to her desperate 'I need your help' message. The last piece of footage then showed the pair together again as they walked to the shops

The last piece of footage then showed the pair together again as they walked to the shops

They both went inside a Premier Store before they briefly split to go to different stores

They both went inside a Premier Store before they briefly split to go to different stores

Louise was captured on CCTV cameras visiting a nearby Tesco branch on her own

Louise was captured on CCTV cameras visiting a nearby Tesco branch on her own

Shane Mays was then seen leaving the shop and walking across pavement towards home

Shane Mays was then seen leaving the shop and walking across pavement towards home

Louise was also spotted in the same spot after they briefly split up for some shopping

Louise was also spotted in the same spot after they briefly split up for some shopping

Louise Smith and Shane Mays are seen walking back home in the last known video of her

Louise Smith and Shane Mays are seen walking back home in the last known video of her

Miss Burt said: 'When I rang her she was crying, she was in a complete fit. She was hysterically crying.

'She said 'I don't want to be there, I want to go' and I said 'get your stuff and come to me, you know where I am'.

'She hated being there, she said 'I can't do nothing there, they are treating me like a child. She was going to get Brad and come to me.'

The court also heard Miss Burt told Louise she would be 'safe' at her house.

Throughout the afternoon Miss Burt messaged Louise, telling her she was preparing spaghetti bolognese for her dinner, but in the evening Louise 'suddenly' said she wasn't going after she spoke to her social worker.

Miss Burt described Louise as a 'typical teenager' who would 'help anyone' and loved 'animals and children'.

Mays mother, Karen Rawlinson, and sister, Tia Rawlinson, said he was 'really hot and sweaty' when he turned up unannounced having just allegedly murdered Louise.

He complained of 'stomach cramps', drank cola, and lied about walking Louise three miles away.

Mays is on trial for the murder of the vulnerable teenager, 16, but has confessed to her manslaughter.

The court has already heard claims he was a 'predator' accused of having a 'sexual motivation' to kill Louise, who had been living with him and his wife. 

Shane Mays, 29, admitted one charge of manslaughter but denies murdering the teenager

Shane Mays, 29, admitted one charge of manslaughter but denies murdering the teenager

Louise Smith, 16, went missing on VE Day in May, sparking a huge two-week search for her

Louise Smith, 16, went missing on VE Day in May, sparking a huge two-week search for her

On Monday it was said he had previously 'flirted' with Louise by putting his arm around her and 'pinning her down'.

Then on Tuesday jurors were shown a Snapchat video of Mays looking through Louise's knees and tickling her on April 26, and were told he had 'playfights' with her.

The court has also heard his manslaughter plea meant he accepted he had walked with her to Havant Thicket, East Hampshire, on May 8.

Jurors were also told how Louise's boyfriend hugged her and said 'I love you' the day before she died - the last time he saw her.

The court heard QC Andrew Langdon explain what Mays said had happened on the day. 

The lawyer said: 'He attacked her. His case is that he did so because of an argument which resulted in him losing control of his temper.

'He repeatedly punched her and he accepts that his attack on her would have caused or contributed to her subsequent death.

'He did not intend to kill her or to cause her really serious injury. He did not set fire to her.

'He accepts that he told others that he had walked Louise to Emsworth Park when, in fact, he had not done so.

'He accepts that CCTV sightings correctly identify him. He accepts the interpretation of the movement of Louise's phone.

'He accepts that DNA matching his was found there. He accepts that Louise's blood was found on his left trainer and his fingerprint on her phone.'

Louise went missing on VE day and was not found until the morning of May 21, almost two weeks later.

Prosecutors said the girl's blood had been found on Mays' trainers and his fingerprints had been found on an item nearby.

DNA matching Mays' wife and Louise's aunt, Chazlynn Mays - known as CJ - was also found but the prosecution did not suggest she had played any part in the murder.

Louise had been living with Shane Mays (right) and his wife, Chazlynn Jayne Mays (left), 29

Louise had been living with Shane Mays (right) and his wife, Chazlynn Jayne Mays (left), 29

Police officers at the area of woodland in Havant, Hampshire, during their investigation in May

Police officers at the area of woodland in Havant, Hampshire, during their investigation in May

James Newton-Price QC, prosecuting, said: 'It is clear, we say, that her killer lured her or persuaded her to walk to a remote location where he attacked her.

'We say that you can conclude that this was an attack of unimaginable cruelty towards a vulnerable 16-year-old girl.

'The shattering of the bones and the structure of her face, including the complete detachment of her jaw bone, indicates multiple blows to her head.

'There is background evidence that Louise Smith was unhappy in the care of Shane Mays and his wife and that she, an adolescent, was drinking heavily in their flat on the night before she disappeared.'

Mr Newton-Price told how forensic scientists believed it was one billion times more likely than not that DNA found in blood spots on Mays' trainers belonged to Louise.

Investigators found 11 sticks around Louise's body, the court heard, placed around her as fuel to the fire which had been set on her body.

One of them had DNA on it with 'possible contributors' identified as Louise, Shane and CJ.The likelihood of Shane having been a contributor was considered 38million times more likely than not and the likelihood of his wife having been a contributor was said to be 150 times more likely than not.

Mr Newton-Price told the jury: 'For the avoidance of doubt, we are not suggesting and I do not think it will be suggested that Chazlynn Mays touched that stick.'

He added: 'That DNA could have transferred to it by way of her husband Shane.

'There is no evidence to place Chazlynn Mays outside Ringwood House or anywhere near Havant Thicket on May 8.

'We say you may reasonably conclude that the person who burned and defiled her body was the defendant Shane Mays.'

Police re-arrested Mays six days after they found Louise's body and put the findings of his DNA on Stick One and Louise's blood on his trainers to him, the court was told.

In a prepared statement to the police, Mays had said: 'I have been arrested on suspicion of murder and I strongly deny this allegation.

'I have had no involvement at all in the murder of Louise Smith. That is all I wish to say at present.'

The victim's boyfriend Bradley Kercher, then 17, told police he gave her a kiss goodbye the day before she died.

Mr Kercher, now 18, said: 'On the Thursday [the day before she disappeared], I said goodbye to her, told her I love her and gave her a kiss and a cuddle.

'That was the last time I saw her.' Mr Kercher, who was in an on and off relationship with Louise for a year, said she and Mays 'flirted'.

He said: 'The way Louise was speaking about Shane, it was like he was flirting with her. He put his arm around her, tickled her, pinned her down, things like that.

'Shane said he feels like Louise was flirting with him. They were both saying that both were flirting with one another but both denying it. I brushed it aside.'

He added: 'Louise text me things like ''me and and Shane were walking to the shop and he put his arm around me'' and ''we were walking to the shop and he pushed me in the bush''.

'The way she was saying it was like they were flirting.'

Mr Kercher said he knew something was wrong when Louise failed to answer her phone - which had a Beauty and the Beast case - because she was 'always on it'.

Mr Kercher and CJ had been told by Mays that he walked her three miles to a skate part in Emsworth, but Mr Kercher found it strange because 'it was too far'.

He said when Mays walked through the door he complained 'Lou takes the piss because she just made me walk her to Emsworth.

He continued: 'CJ phoned her and her phone just kept ringing, ringing and ringing.

'She kept trying to call her but when she didn't pick up I knew something had happened and I knew I needed to get up to the skate park to see her.

'Emsworth was too far, she didn't know anyone there. It was unusual behaviour for Louise. When Shane said she went there it didn't make sense in my head.

'Then her phone would not answer, it didn't add up.' He added: 'Her life was on her phone... She always had it around her. She was always on it.'

Giving evidence in court, Mr Kercher said Louise never expressed any interest in visiting Havant Thicket.

Mr Kercher said in conversations with Louise in the days before she died, she told him she 'had enough' of living with Mays and CJ.

He said: 'She told me she had enough of the way Shane was speaking to her and the way she was being treated.

'Louise text me that she didn't like the way Shane spoke to her... She said he speaks to her like shit.'

The defendant, wearing a blue tee-shirt, sat in the dock at the court, where he admitted manslaughter on Monday. 

Mays, of Havant, Hampshire, denies murder but admits manslaughter and the trial continues.

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