A SCHOOLGIRL yesterday was reliving the moment she discovered her best
friend's butchered body. The murdered girl's older boyfriend spoke of
how they planned to resume their relationship.
Fifteen-year-old Emma Jones stumbled upon Naomi Smith minutes after a
killer had struck, slitting her throat from ear to ear and sexually
mutilating her body.
Emma, 15, from Ansley Common, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, where Naomi
Smith lived, courageously offered to attend a news conference and speak
of her friend and her awful discovery.
She and freckle-faced Naomi were described as ''inseparable'' by their
headmaster and Emma told police she wanted to help the hunt for the
savage knifeman by speaking to the public through the media.
Naomi had left home just before 10pm on Thursday to post a letter for
her mother but did not return.
Detective Superintendent Tony Bayliss told a news conference on
Saturday that Naomi had been ''mutilated'' during a frenzied attack
yards from her family home on the Bretts Hall estate in Ansley Common.
He said: ''I believe it is right and proper to reveal the extent of
Naomi's injuries so that those who may have mixed loyalties about
whether to come forward with information do so.
''She suffered a massive wound to her throat caused by at least four
or five blows from a sharp instrument. Considerable violent force was
used and her throat was cut almost from ear to ear.
''Her mother and father and friends saw her at the scene and I think I
can tell you that her genitalia were severely damaged. This may suggest
that a weapon or instrument was used to inflict these injuries.''
Meanwhile, Naomi's 23-year-old boyfriend spoke of how they were about
to be reconciled on the day she was murdered. Mr Richard Mason, a night
shift shelf-stacker at the local Asda superstore, said he spoke to Naomi
just hours before her death.
Mr Mason, of Meadow Road, Hartshill, Warwickshire, said: ''We had been
going out together for about a month but it began getting a bit too
serious and intense so we decided to cool it -- but we were still
friends and still saw one another.
''I saw Naomi as I was walking to work at about 8pm on Thursday night.
She was just coming back from band practice in Nuneaton. I think her mum
had picked her up.
''I was walking along the road and she shouted at me. I thought 'who's
that' and then saw her running across to me. We just stood and talked
and then I went off.''
Mr Mason said he and his teenage girlfriend had decided they would go
to the cinema to seal their reconciliation.
He said: ''She had told me she wanted to see Batman Forever so I
thought we could go along as a sort of get-back-together. She was happy
about us seeing one another again. She was always a happy person.
''When we would go out, we would just hang around with friends and she
would come and watch me play football.
''I met her when I was playing football on the 'rec'. Naomi just came
over and began talking to me and that's how it all started. She was a
total stranger but she was so friendly. Then we started being together
as girlfriend and boyfriend.
''At first, we saw one another every day but her parents were a bit
wary so we called if off. Her mum and dad came round and they seemed
happy that Naomi was happy.''
Mr Mason, who lives with his parents less than a mile from where Naomi
lived and was killed, said police had spoken to him about her death and
he had told them he was at work at the time she was murdered.
Asked what he would like to see happen to the person who killed his
girlfriend, he said: ''I can't describe what I feel. First of all, I
want to see him caught. I've got my own thoughts on what should be done
to him but I'm keeping them to myself.
''I think whoever did this must have known Naomi and must have lived
locally to know where the 'rec' is.''
* Youth leaders who knew Naomi Smith offered prayers for her and her
family yesterday at an informal church service in Ansley, Warwickshire,
about two miles from where she lived.
A congregation of 30 was in the sandstone St Laurence church, built in
1110, to hear Mrs Catherine Jasper, wife of the vicar, the Rev James
Jasper, speak at the morning family service.
After singing the hymn Trust And Obey, Mrs Jasper said the ''horrific
murder of Naomi'' showed the Devil's influence was always in society and
said: ''It is happening all around us.''
Youth club leaders David and Marie Cove, of Nuthurst Crescent, Ansley,
said they had known Naomi briefly since she attended their group, which
met at local church halls and on the recreation ground where her body
was discovered.
The group would play games and pray. The couple said Naomi joined one
day during the summer after wandering up to see what they were doing.
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