Child murderer to SUE Parole Board for ‘breaching his human rights' after release bid rejected
A CHILD murderer is the first lifer to sue the Parole Board for breaching his human rights after his bid for freedom was rejected.
Officials ruled Paul Smith — who suffocated a ten-year-old girl — should stay behind bars amid continuing concern over his twisted sexual interests.
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But Smith, 38, has now launched a landmark High Court bid to have the decision overturned.
He claims that keeping him in jail breaches his human rights in a case to run separately to a new parole appeal due this week.
Smith is believed to be Britain's first child murderer to use human rights laws in a bid to be released.
The trainee electrician was 17 when he murdered Rosie May Storrie at a Christmas party in 2003.
She was found unconscious and half-naked on a bed in Normanton, Leics, and died two days later in hospital.
Smith was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 14 years' jail.
At his 2004 trial, judge Mr Justice Astill said he was 'a considerable danger to young girls'.
The court heard Smith, who has autism, had previously attacked a 16-year-old female friend and a 12-year-old girl.
He became eligible for parole in January 2018 when his minimum jail term expired.
A recommendation for open prison transfer was rejected in 2019.
Parents of murdered Sarah Everard plea for more whole-life jail terms for worst offenders
His appeal against conviction was rejected in 2014.
The Parole Board's 2024 review concluded he was not fit to be freed due to the serious ongoing concerns about his 'sexual interests'.
Smith's fresh legal challenge is being handled by specialist Newcastle firm Instalaw.
It did not respond to our request for comment.
Rosie May's parents, Mary and Graham, established the Rosie May Foundation in her memory to help children in crisis around the world.
They did not respond to requests for a comment.
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