Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
BBC News - Thursday, 22 August, 2002
An Old Bailey judge sent Elvis Smith to a psychiatric unit indefinitely on Thursday after he admitting killing his daughter Nicole.
The court heard that Nicole, who had been placed in her father's care by Greenwich Council following a custody hearing, was beaten with a leather belt because she kept crying.
Smith, 36, of Casterbridge Road, Greenwich, south London, admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and the court accepted his plea of not guilty to Nicole's murder.
Mental health
Smith was known to have mental health problems but was said to have cared well for his daughter when she first went to live with him, aged six months.
But later he began to seek help from social services and his doctor, the court heard.
Nicole was not on the At Risk register at the time of her death.
Judge Martin Stephens said it would be inappropriate for him to make any comment on the social services aspect of the case at this stage.
He told the court: "I am informed a full inquiry is continuing to take place. All should await the results of the inquiry."
Nicole's mother sat distressed at the back of the court as details of her daughter's last minutes alive were given by prosecuting counsel Christopher Hehir.
Smith's relationship with Nicole's mother, Theresa Thorpe, had not continued for long after she was born, said Mr Hehir.
He started a relationship with another woman for a time, but when that broke up, became involved in a sexual relationship with a man.
Sustained attack
"But in the summer of 2000, he learnt the other man was HIV positive. He took it very badly and made threats of violence to this man," said Mr Hehir.
"He saw his GP and then a psychiatrist as he was increasingly suffering from anxiety about what he had learnt," Mr Hehir told the court.
On July 2 last year - the day before her death - she had appeared happy. But early next day, Smith called an ambulance. When police arrived he told them: "I hit her. Oh God. Tell me she is not dead. Don't let her die, she is all I have got."
"I asked social services for help. I told them I could not cope. They would not listen. They said it would be all right," he said.
Cause of Nicole's death was haemorrhaging through injuries consistent with a sustained attack.
Smith said his daughter started crying when told to go to sleep. "She said she wanted to see her father's friend who had HIV. Told she could not, she would not stop crying," said Mr Hehir.
Committed father
Psychiatric reports on Smith since his arrest show he is suffering from a severe personality disorder of a psychopathic nature. He will not be released without Home Office permission.
Greenwich Child Protection committee said in a statement issued earlier: "The brutal ending of Nicole's life was a tragedy.
"Elvis Smith's attack on his daughter came completely out of the blue. Until that point, the evidence suggests he was a caring and committed father.
"He was not suffering from a serious mental illness. He was experiencing depression and anxiety and was being treated appropriately for these conditions. "There is nothing to suggest that this attack on Nicole could have been predicted."
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