Louise Smith murder: Shane Mays sentence 'too low'

Louise Smith had moved in with her aunt who is married to Shane Mays

The sentence handed to a man who murdered his niece and defiled her body is to be reviewed after the solicitor general said it was "too low".

Louise Smith, 16, was found dead at Havant Thicket, Hampshire, on 21 May - 13 days after she went missing.

Shane Mays, 30, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years in December, following a trial.

Solicitor General Michael Ellis QC has now referred the case to the Court of Appeal.

A spokesman said: "The solicitor general was shocked by this horrific attack and wishes to express his deepest sympathies to the victim's family.

"The solicitor has referred the sentence of Shane Mays to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme as he considers it to be too low."

Mays lured Louise to Havant Thicket on VE Day where he repeatedly punched her in the face, defiled her with a stick and set fire to her body.

At his sentencing at Winchester Crown Court on 9 December, judge Mrs Justice May said he had committed "the most gross abuse of trust".

But she rejected a whole life term, adding she could not be sure the murder was "sexually motivated".

Shane Mays was jailed for a minimum of 25 years

Louise had gone to live with her aunt and Mays - her uncle through marriage - in April after an argument with her mother.

The defendant, who admitted manslaughter, told the jury he attacked Louise after she hit him with a stick during an argument over drugs.

Mays, of Ringwood House, Leigh Park, said someone else must have later interfered with and burned her body.

He said he forgot what he had done until he was in prison on remand in June.

The cause of Louise's death could not be determined due to the fire, the jury was told.