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Kayleigh Smart has been handed a life sentence with a minimum term of eight years at Liverpool Crown Court after admitting the manslaughter of vulnerable 34-year-old Liam Collier on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The 40-year-old defendant, who has no fixed address but origins in Billinge, attacked Mr Collier inside his Sherlock Avenue flat in Haydock on the evening of 2 May 2025 while suffering from an untreated schizophrenic episode. Handing down the sentence alongside a Section 45A hospital order on Tuesday morning, 15 September 2026, Judge Brian Cummings KC ordered that Smart remain detained at Guild Lodge secure psychiatric hospital in Preston for treatment before any potential transfer to the prison estate, prompting audible cries of "yes" from the victim's grieving relatives in the public gallery.
The Crown Prosecution Service accepted Smart's plea to manslaughter after clinical assessments confirmed her perception of reality was profoundly impaired during the fatal confrontation. Daily Dazzling Dawn understands the pair had initially connected through Facebook messages and engaged in a 50-minute video conversation before Mr Collier funded a taxi to bring her to his home. Smart arrived carrying multiple bags of personal belongings shortly before 9:00 pm, after which the host shared vodka with her and briefly visited a local convenience store to purchase an additional bottle.
By 10:30 pm, the encounter deteriorated into severe violence, culminating in desperate emergency calls and calls for assistance from the residential property. Daily Dazzling Dawn learned that Mr Collier managed to dial 999 while enduring repeated knife strikes, pleading for his life and shouting that he had done nothing wrong before falling completely silent. Neighbours reported hearing muffled cries before the victim fell from a first-floor window into the front garden; emergency responders arrived to find him unconscious with catastrophic trauma. Despite 45 minutes of advanced life support delivered by paramedics and an attending critical care physician, the 34-year-old was pronounced dead at 11:30 pm, with a post-mortem examination identifying chest wounds among eleven total blade injuries as the primary cause of death.
Smart concealed the weapon, which Merseyside Police never recovered, and initially misled investigating detectives by accusing an estranged partner of the killing before alleging Mr Collier had spiked her drink. However, forensic psychiatric examinations subsequently revealed deep-seated persecutory delusions, including beliefs that staff at her previous supported accommodation were poisoning her and monitoring her movements on television broadcasts. Prosecuting counsel Andrew Thomas KC outlined that Smart possessed an established medical history dating to 2002 alongside previous convictions for bladed article possession and assault, having disengaged from community psychiatric services, discontinued prescribed anti-psychotic treatments, and consumed excessive amounts of spirits leading up to the tragedy.
In sentencing remarks delivered to the court, Judge Cummings noted that Smart retained a medium level of legal responsibility, observing that the vulnerable victim experienced substantial terror and physical anguish while trapped within his own residence. Defending barrister Michael Hayton KC submitted to journalists that the defendant expressed profound remorse for taking the life of a blameless man who had extended hospitality, emphasising that severe untreated psychosis remained the fundamental catalyst behind the tragedy. Under the hybrid order, Smart will only become eligible for Parole Board review once psychiatric clinicians deem her fit for discharge to the general prison system.
