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BRITAIN'S MOST EVIL GRAN

‘Wicked’ nan who tortured tragic granddaughter, 7, found guilty of cruelty to five more kids

Probe into Juanila Smikle, 55, came after the death of little Shanay Walker

A GRAN who was jailed after torturing her granddaughter for two years before she died has been found guilty of cruelty to five other children.

Juanila Smikle, 55, was locked up last year for abusing little Shanay Walker, seven, along with the girl's churchgoing aunt.

 Juanila Smikle, who was jailed for torturing her granddaughter, has been found guilty of cruelty to five more kids
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Juanila Smikle, who was jailed for torturing her granddaughter, has been found guilty of cruelty to five more kidsCredit: SWNS:South West News Service
 Shanay Walker suffered years of abuse at the hands of her aunt and gran after her mother Leanne, right, could no longer care for her
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Shanay Walker suffered years of abuse at the hands of her aunt and gran after her mother Leanne, right, could no longer care for herCredit: SWNS:South West News Service

The youngster had 50 injuries when paramedics found her dead including a burn from an iron and a fatal brain haemorrhage.

She had been forced to repeatedly run up and down stairs, hit with a hairbrush, had clothes shoved in her mouth and banned from going to the toilet over more than two years of abuse.

Scheming Smikle manipulated social workers into believing that the girl's injuries were accidental after teachers raised the alarm.

Chilling footage showed the youngster going to a shop barefoot and in pyjamas to ask for a drink the day before she died in July 2014.

Smikle and Shanay's aunt Kay-Ann Morris, 24 - granted custody when her mum Leanne Walker became depressed - were cleared of murder in a trial last year.

But they were found guilty of what was described as "about the worst case" of child cruelty and a "most wicked betrayal of trust".

 Tragic Shanay Walker seen running barefoot into a shop asking for a drink the day before she died
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Tragic Shanay Walker seen running barefoot into a shop asking for a drink the day before she diedCredit: Raymonds Press
 Shanay's churchgoing aunt Kay-Ann Morris was jailed for eight years for her wicked campaign of cruelty
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Shanay's churchgoing aunt Kay-Ann Morris was jailed for eight years for her wicked campaign of crueltyCredit: SWNS:South West News Service

Smikle was also convicted of being cruel to three other kids, including making them sit in water and ice for so long they could barely stand afterwards.

She was jailed for four years and Morris for eight after last year's case last year.

Yesterday the gran was found guilty of cruelty to another five youngsters following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court.

Her trial was told an investigation following the death of seven-year-old Shanay discovered other children had been treated cruelly by Smikle.

The wicked gran, of Top Valley, Notts, sat silently as the jury forewoman gave their guilty verdicts.

Judge Gregory Dickinson QC warned she would get a prison sentence in addition to the one she is already serving.

Smikle will be sentenced on October 4.


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