 On 17 July Smith complained of feeling unwell with chest and eye pain while under cross @-@ examination , and proceedings were briefly halted while he was treated for the symptoms of a panic attack . When Smith returned to the witness stand , he said he wished to speak to his barrister . Presiding judge Rafferty told him that he must answer questions , to which Smith replied : " I want to change my plea . I 'm fed up with this . I want to change my plea . " The charges were read to him again the following day , and he pleaded guilty . On 18 July 2001 Smith was sentenced to life imprisonment . In January 2005 Birmingham 's Sunday Mercury newspaper reported that Smith had decided to change his plea after police agreed to return £ 400 confiscated from him during a raid on his flat after his arrest , and that he wanted the money to buy Mars bars in prison . 
