              The fantasies that led to evil crimes.
              Express & Star:Tuesday November 9 1982

        Unemployed Malcolm  Smith,  who  used  a  web  of  lies to
ensnare young girls into his  perverted  satanic sex ring, lived a
life of total fantasy.
        The volunteer radio presenter  told neighbours and friends
that he was an SAS agent , that he had been a fighter pilot in the
last war and that he had a luxurious flat in Mayfair.
        He also boasted that he was a secret service agent and had
a rich uncle who owned a ranch in Dallas(Texas).
        But his harmless fantasy  world  lead  him  to an sinister
interest in the occult-and eventually  to  a  life of horrific sex
crimes against children.
                              FIGHT

        Smith and his wife ,  Susan,  twice moved house in Telford
each time leaving behind angry , suspicious neighbours.
        They lived in poverty , and  each  time  they set up a new
home  , rumours soon began about strange activities at the house.
        Former neighbour Mrs  Veronica  Row,  of Smallwood, Sutten
Hill, said: "Everybody round  here  told  their  kids  not to have
anything to do with them and definitely not to go in the house.
        "He  was  always  inviting  little  girls  he  was  always
grabbing hold of little kids , he liked that", she said .
        Mrs Row said that there  were rumours about bizarre events
taking place at the Smith Home around the time of a full moon.
        "Some people had heard noises  like wolves howling. I have
heard people say that it was him. He really believed in all that."
she said.
                              RADIO

        Although neither Smith nor his  wife worked, he spent some
time on a training opportunity  scheme, painting and decorating at
Wolverhampton. He was sacked because he kept taking days off.
        He worked as a volunteer presenter with his own weekly one
hour spot on  the  community  station,  WSM  Radio  at  Woodside ,
Telford, reaching a potential 20,000 listeners.
        His show was a  mixture  of  music  and requests, together
with a look into the supernatural, legends, and mysteries, such as
the Marie Celeste.
        Fellow presenter, Richard Tyler said: "He had a very vivid
imagination. He said he had been a  fighter pilot and all sorts of
other improbable things."
                              BARRED

        And a woman who also worked  at  the station said: "He had
gone round professing to be the  devil, or an Indian or something.
He believed his own fantasies. He was like Walter Mitty."
        Members of a naturist  club  in  the  area saw through the
charade set up by Smith. They barred the couple from membership of
their club after just a few visits.
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