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 pavement cafe, appearing just like any typical teenage siblings.
Shared on Facebook by their dad Andy Smith on September 1 the previous year, the video showed the siblings having a good time in Amsterdam. However, tragically, only 49 days later, 17-year-old Mali committed a heinous act by murdering his older sister, 19-year-old Luka, whom he found ‘annoying’.
The chilling incident took place on October 20, 2024, at their family home while the two siblings were alone. Luka had allowed Mali to practice a headlock on her, but instead of releasing her when she signaled, as he had previously done, he continued to hold her down and proceeded to repeatedly stab her.
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.
Siblings Mali (right) and Luka Bennett-Smith (left) pictured together before Mali brutally murdered his ‘annoying’ older sister
Mali (left) and Luka (right)Â grew up on a remote farm in New Zealand, where they were home-schooled
Luka, 19, had agreed Mali, 17, could practice a headlock on her, but instead of letting go when she tapped him he continued to hold her before stabbing her repeatedly
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
Luka pictured helping at her father’s organic food business which specialised in Middle Eastern street food
Facebook pictures chart an idyllic and bohemian childhood of two close siblings growing up together enjoying theme parks and trips to the beach
A judge said ‘the horror of the loss of their daughter at the hands of the son they still love is beyond even the worst nightmares’
Luka and Mali pictured together. 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
A judge said the ‘shocking and brutal’ killing ‘has deprived Luka of her life, your parents in effect of two of their children, and will deprive you of your liberty’
After his parents divorced Mali moved to the UK and Bristol. He had dreamed of joining the army but dropped out of his college course, the court was told
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.’
