Hereford woman, Sylvia Smith, lied to police to protect lover (From Hereford Times)

Hereford woman, Sylvia Smith, lied to police to protect lover

8:24am Thursday 12th November 2009

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A PREGNANT woman lied to police to protect her lover who is accused of murder, a court heard this week.

Sylvia Smith covered up her relationship with Robert Field, who is alleged to have killed Leominster businessman George Black at his Bucknell home last December.

Smith, aged 22, was in a relationship with Black but had been having a secret affair with Field, who is believed to have fathered her child.

Mr Black died having been set alight with petrol, allegedly by Field and friend Gareth Powell, who feared Mr Black’s reaction should he find out about the pregnancy.

Smith, of Cherrybrook Close, Hope-under-Dinmore, admitted to a jury at Worcester Crown Court this week that she lied about knowing the attackers and being pregnant with Field’s child. She gave birth to a daughter in August.

She also told the court that Mr Black, who was 41, kept an arsenal of weapons, including a machete and gun, for protection.

Smith said Field never indicated to her that Mr Black was going to be hurt.

She was burned on the face, right arm and both legs in the blaze and spent four weeks in hospital.

The court heard that Mr Black, who had a Swiss bank account and owned two homes, was planning to retire to Portugal.

Gareth Powell, aged 29, of The Grove, Shobdon, and Field, 22, of Etnam Street, Leominster, deny murder.

Smith has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to murder.

She, along with her mother Sylvia Jane Smith, 42, and her stepfather Steven Smith, 45, have pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice by making false statements to police.

They live with their daughter in Hope-under-Dinmore.

The trial continues.

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