A British woman who admitted suffocating to death her two young children at a Spanish hotel has received a 30-year jail term, according to a court ruling released yesterday.

The Provincial Court in the northeastern city of Girona jailed Lianne Smith for 15 years for each of the murders, which took place at the Miramar Hotel in the eastern resort of Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava in May 2010.

The 45-year-old told police she smothered her two children – 11-month-old Daniel and five-year-old Rebecca – with a plastic bag while they slept because she feared they would be taken away after her partner was arrested on sex offence charges.

A day after she killed them, Ms Smith went to the reception of the four-star hotel and asked for police and an ambulance to be called. Her lawyers argued during her four-day trial last month that she was “psychiatrically disturbed”.

While the court acknowledged that Ms Smith was suffering a degree of mental disturbance when she murdered her children, it ruled that she was still criminally responsible for her actions.

Ms Smith, who is originally from Tyneside in northeastern England, refused to answer questions from the prosecution, as is her right under Spanish law.

Ms Smith committed the crime just days after her partner Martin Smith was extradited to Britain to face charges of sexually abusing her eldest daughter from another relationship.

The couple, who shared the same surname but were not married, moved to Spain in 2007.

Mr Smith, who claimed to be a psychic and hypnotist, was found hanged at his cell at a Manchester jail in January.