Angry mum of Jennifer Maree Smith rejects killer's 'crocodile' tears

THE killer of a freelance journalist found dead in a Sydney laneway nearly 15 years ago sobbed in court and apologised to her family.

Jennifer Maree Smith

THE killer of a freelance journalist found dead in a Sydney laneway nearly 15 years ago sobbed in court yesterday and apologised to her grieving family.

"I've carried this burden for a long time. I've had guilt and shame and I'm sorry," Wayne Castle, 54, told the Supreme Court.

Castle, from Forest Lodge, pleaded guilty earlier this year to the manslaughter of 32-year-old Jennifer Maree Smith, who was found unconscious in a lane beside the Coopers Arms Hotel at Newtown on January 17, 1998.

The freelance journalist, from Elizabeth Bay in Sydney's east, died a short time later of severe head injuries.

The court heard Castle punched Ms Smith in the face during a robbery, causing her skull to fracture when she hit the ground.

In a victim impact statement, Ms Smith's mother, Dale Katherine Smith, said: "His denial and lack of remorse haunts me. If he had confessed at the (inquest) in 1999 I may have moved on from this eternal torment."

Castle said he was on drugs and didn't remember punching Ms Smith. He will be sentenced on Thursday.