The grandmother of a Bestwood girl who died of a brain injury has been jailed for seven years for cruelty after a retrial.
Juanila Smikle, 55, was convicted last year of cruelty towards seven-year-old Shanay Walker, who was found dead at her home in Bestwood in July 2014, and also to three other children. She was originally sentenced to four years in prison.
Smikle appealed against the conviction and a retrial was ordered.
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During the original original trial, the court heard evidence that another child had also suffered cruelty from Smikle. Consequently, in addition to the four original cruelty charges, she was charged with a fifth count which had not been included in the 2015 trial indictment.
Smikle’s sentence for the original charges was upheld at the conclusion of her retrial at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday (Tuesday, October 4, 2016). She was also convicted of the new cruelty charge and given a further three years in prison, to run consecutively.
Smikle’s daughter, 24-year-old Kay-Ann Morris, was also convicted of cruelty at the original trial, and sentenced to eight years in prison.
