Teenager guilty of Lauren murder

Lauren Pilkington-Smith suffered severe head injuries

A teenager has been found guilty of the murder of 10-year-old Lauren Pilkington-Smith, who was found battered to death in woodland.

At Liverpool Crown Court, Kieron Smith, 18, denied killing the youngster in Leigh, Greater Manchester, on 7 July.

Lauren disappeared after playing cricket with Smith - no relation to Lauren - and another boy near her home.

Lauren's body was found by her grandfather, hidden under leaves. She had suffered severe head injuries.

Smith, of Pilling Street, Leigh, was found guilty by a unanimous verdict following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court lasting nearly two weeks. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Police said Smith was "a cold, calculating and violent killer".

Lauren's death has destroyed us Lauren's parents 'We have lost a beautiful light'

The teenager, who is unemployed, admitted playing cricket with Lauren but always insisted he had gone home afterwards and not seen her again.

He told police and the jury that he spent the evening watching television, playing computer games, cooking his tea and taking the family dog for a short walk.

Kieron Smith had played cricket with Lauren on the day of her death

Smith was unable to explain how tiny droplets of Lauren's blood came to be on his trainers.

Speaking after the verdict, Det Ch Insp Shaun Connellan, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "This has been a tragedy for the family of a little girl whose contribution to this world was simply goodness, and love coupled with a genuine desire to help others.

"Kieron Smith is a cold, calculating and violent liar, who has snuffed out the life of a little girl for reasons that are known only to him.

"No one will ever know what happened in those woods on that dreadful day in July 2005.

"Smith has maintained his lying and manipulating devious stance from the first."

Lauren's parents, Alison Pilkington-Smith and Glenn Smith, said her loss had left the family "devastated".

"It is like a beautiful light has gone from our lives," they said.

"There is a great hole left which can never be filled."