Philip John Smith Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers
The son of sawmill labourer Henry John Smith and his wife Rose Smith (née Luckins), he was the oldest of five siblings. Smith's family lived in Midland Road, where they were neighbours of serial killers Fred and Rosemary West, before moving to Hailes Road on the Coney Hill Estate in 1971. The family had a modest income, and their situation became worse when Smith's father was injured in a motoring accident. Smith attended Coney Hill Infants and Junior School and later went to a special school for children with learning difficulties. He left school at 14 to join Billy Danter's Funfair, which toured extensively throughout the United Kingdom and also employed his father. The 18-year-old was fatally stabbed in her own home and died in her mother's arms. Detectives matched the tyre marks from his car, which had four different types of tyre, to the Worcestershire murder scene and to Corcoran's body, over which he had driven. Paintwork and fragments of glass found on J...