During a family trip to the Netherlands, Mali and Luka Bennett-Smith were captured on video laughing and making faces while enjoying beer outside a cafe. The video, shared on Facebook by their father Andy Smith, showed a seemingly normal sibling bond between the close teenage duo.
However, just 49 days after the lighthearted video was shared, a tragic incident occurred. On October 20, 2024, 17-year-old Mali brutally murdered his 19-year-old sister, Luka, in their shared home, shocking those who knew them. The video of their carefree moment in Amsterdam contrasted starkly with the devastating outcome that followed.
On the day of the incident, Mali and Luka were alone at home when a playful gesture took a horrifying turn. Luka had allowed Mali to practice a headlock on her, a common sibling play, but this time, the situation escalated. Instead of releasing her when she signaled, Mali continued to restrain her and ultimately resorted to a violent act by repeatedly stabbing his older sister.
Twenty minutes after the killing he dialled 999 and said: ‘I stabbed my sister to death.’
The court heard Mali, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, told operators they had not been having an argument, but he said: ‘I hated her my whole life and I don’t know, I just didn’t want to ever see her again.
‘On this occasion I had decided I was not going to stop, I wanted to kill her, I had enough with regards to how she had been treating me over the years and recently.’
The siblings grew up on a remote farm in New Zealand, where they were home-schooled, but later moved to the UK and Bristol. Mali had dreamed of joining the army but dropped out of his college course, the court was told.
Facebook pictures chart an idyllic and bohemian childhood of two close siblings growing up together enjoying theme parks and trips to the beach.
But home-schooling appears to have come with its own challenges for mum Liz Bennett who tried to bring a ‘Steiner’ approach to schooling which discourages kids from spending time looking at screens.
She once told fellow parents: ‘My husband Andy and I are still struggling seeing our kids spend all their time on the computer playing games. Even when friends come over they don’t want to stop and play.Â
‘Their cousins have stopped coming over because all our kids ever do is play computer games. I love that it makes them happy but we’re battling how this has come to dominate all our lives.’
Those concerns appear profound in light of Monday’s hearing at Bristol Crown Court where – following Bennett-Smith’s guilty plea to murder – Ray Tully KC, defending, said his ‘somewhat unconventional’ upbringing meant he did not mix with other children his own age, and spent a lot of time gaming.
Mr Tully said the defendant would disappear into a world of video gaming and become dissociated from the real world.
He said: ‘Mali did not know how to manage his increasing feelings of frustration and resentment towards Luka.’
He said the teenager, of Cromwell Road, had ‘genuine remorse’ for his actions.
Not long before the three-week Amsterdam break, Andy and Liz split up with mum and teens moving to a home in Cromwell Road, Bristol, while dad remained in Auckland, New Zealand, where he ran an organic food business specialising in Middle Eastern street food.Â
Jailing Bennett-Smith for at least 10 years and five months, Judge William Hart described the murder as ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’.
He added: ‘The horror of the loss of their daughter at the hands of the son they still love is beyond even the worst nightmares.’
Sentencing him to detention during his majesty’s pleasure, the judge said: ‘The killing was shocking and brutal.
‘It has deprived Luka of her life, your parents in effect of two of their children, and will deprive you of your liberty.’
He said the use of a knife, the fact Bennett-Smith ‘undoubtedly intended to kill’ and the brutality were aggravating features.
He added: ‘The scene that met the paramedics on arrival at that house will, I imagine, live with them forever.’
The judge lifted reporting restrictions on naming the defendant after an application by the PA news agency.
After the sentencing, Detective Inspector Nadine Partridge of Avon and Somerset Police said: ‘Our thoughts remain fully with Luka’s family at this difficult time. They continue to be updated and supported by specially trained family liaison officers.’
