BARNSLEY’S top police officer has paid tribute to his colleagues’ ‘painstaking’ work in securing justice for the family of murdered Clare Louise Smith.

Chief Superintendent Scott Green, district commander for the town, spoke to the Chronicle following last Friday’s sentencing of Justine Wainwright and Penny Brownlie, who both denied her murder but were found guilty of inflicting a sustained assault which proved to be fatal on May 18.

Wainwright, 58, and 45-year-old Brownlie were given life sentences by Judge Jeremy Richardson QC and will have to serve a minimum of 26 years behind bars.

Chf Supt Green said: “Officers were quick to respond following the murder and during the investigation and trial it became clear they went to great lengths to cover up the crime, including disposing of items and the cleaning up of the flat where the victim was attacked.

“It involved painstaking and committed detective work and although that was a slow process, it enabled us to build up a picture of Wainwright and Brownlie’s activity in the run-up to the night of Clare’s death, as well as afterwards.

“The sentences are a fantastic result for the police and it’s reassuring to us, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Barnsley community as the right people were put before the court and the right result was achieved.

“This wasn’t a spontaneous, one-punch assault it was a sustained assault which resulted in an innocent victim’s death.”