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Stuart HAZELL

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Sexual assault
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder: August 2, 2012
Date of arrest: 8 days after
Date of birth: 1975
Victim profile: Tia Sharp, 12 (his partner's granddaughter)
Method of murder: The post-mortem concluded without establishing the cause of death
Location: New Addington, London, England, United Kingdom
Status: Sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 38 years on May 14, 2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
photo gallery
 
 
 
 
 
 

The murder of Tia Sharp was a high-profile English case in which a 12-year-old girl, Tia Sharp (30 June 2000 - 2 August 2012), was reported missing from the home of her grandmother in New Addington, London, in August 2012.

When police discovered her body in the loft of the house seven days later, they arrested Christine Sharp and her partner Stuart Hazell on suspicion of murder. Hazell is a former boyfriend of Tia's mother. Hazell was charged with Tia's murder on 12 August.

Five days into his trial at the Old Bailey in May 2013, Hazell changed his plea from not guilty to guilty. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the judge setting a minimum term of 38 years.

Disappearance

Hazell told police that Tia had left the house on 3 August 2012 to travel to Croydon, five miles away, to buy shoes in the Whitgift Centre. On 7 August, Tia's uncle, David Sharp, made a televised plea for her safe return. Fifty-five sightings were reported by members of the public, but none were substantiated. Eighty police officers were assigned to the search, and 800 hours of CCTV footage were collected.

Investigation

On 10 August, a body was discovered in a black bed sheet in a black bag in the loft of Tia's grandmother Christine Sharp's home, after police searched it for the fourth time. Police launched a search for Hazell, and later that day arrested him at Cannon Hill Common, Morden, on suspicion of murder, after a tip-off from a member of the public. It was later announced that two further arrests had been made: Christine Sharp, on suspicion of murder, and her neighbour, Paul Meehan, on suspicion of assisting an offender. Meehan and Sharp were subsequently bailed.

Commander Neil Basu, the officer in charge of the investigation, apologised to Tia's mother for the delay in finding her daughter's body. He blamed human error and said that a review would be undertaken "to ensure such a failing is not repeated".

Late in the evening of 11 August, Hazell was charged with the murder of Tia Sharp. He appeared before Camberwell Green magistrates' court on 13 August via video-link. No plea was entered and the case was committed to the Old Bailey for trial, with a first appearance on 15 August, also via video-link, and a preliminary hearing set for 19 November. He was remanded in custody to Belmarsh prison where he was kept in isolation for his own safety.

A post-mortem on the body was begun on 10 August, and paused later that day. By 16 August, the post-mortem had still not been completed, but at an inquest into the death, which opened that day, it was confirmed that the body was that of Tia Sharp. The post-mortem later concluded without establishing the cause of death.

Experts told This is Croydon Today that the delay in finding the body will have made it much harder to establish the cause of death, and that without a cause of death the prosecution will find it much harder to build a case. However, detectives suspected and it was widely reported that Tia Sharp was smothered, although this was not officially proven to be the cause of death.

On 23 August police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe addressed his force's failure to find Tia's body. He said that the error could not be attributed to a single officer. He wanted "to understand what processes and management decisions we've made that led to that failure." He hoped to have answers within a few weeks, and again apologised to Tia's family.

Tia Sharp was cremated on 14 September, after a private family funeral.

Court proceedings

It was announced on 26 November that Stuart Hazell would face trial in May 2013.

On 7 December, the Metropolitan Police announced that Tia Sharp's grandmother would not face charges.

On 5 February 2013, Meehan was charged with wasting police time. He appeared at Croydon magistrates' court on 28 February 2013, where he denied the charge against him and was released on bail for a one-day trial on 29 July.

Hazell pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court on 8 March 2013.

The trial of Stuart Hazell began on 7 May 2013 before Mr Justice Nicol. On 13 May, Hazell changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment on 14 May with a tariff of 38 years, meaning he will be 75 years old before he is eligible for parole.

On 5 August 2013, Paul Meehan was found guilty of wasting police time and sentenced to five months in prison.

Aftermath

In June 2013, Steven Carter announced that he was going to be a father again as his girlfriend was pregnant.

In July 2013, Tia's biological father Steven Carter said he backed a plan for websites to be told to block certain search terms and warn people when they try to view illegal content.

Wikipedia.org

 
 

Tia Sharp murder trial: Stuart Hazell jailed for 38 years

BBC.co.uk

May 14, 2013

Stuart Hazell has been jailed for a minimum of 38 years for killing his partner's granddaughter, Tia Sharp.

The 37-year-old had denied murder, but on the fifth day of his trial at the Old Bailey he changed his plea.

The court heard Hazell sexually assaulted and murdered Tia, 12, at her grandmother's house in south London.

The judge, Mr Justice Nicol, said he could not impose a whole life tariff as he was not sure Hazell's motivation was sexual or that it was premeditated.

He said: "Tia's mother trusted you to look after Tia. You have breached that trust in the most grievous way possible.

"Your guilty plea came on day five. You said you wished to avoid causing further stress to Tia's family. That is commendable, but they have had to endure four days of a very public trial."

'Shame and fear'

Hazell hid Tia's body in her grandmother's loft in New Addington last August.

Despite four searches of the house, her body was not found until a week after she had been reported missing.

Hazell had claimed Tia died after falling down the stairs and breaking her neck, and he hid her body because he panicked.

The prosecution claimed he had a sexual attraction to the schoolgirl.

Jurors were shown an explicit image of a child, alleged to be Tia, which was said to have been taken in the early hours of 3 August 2012 when prosecutors say she died.

The court heard Hazell had previous convictions stretching back 22 years for offences including drug dealing, racially aggravated common assault, burglary and causing grievous bodily harm.

During sentencing, Mr Justice Nicol said: "I come back to the question of whether I can be sure that sexual motivation was involved in Tia's murder. I have decided that I cannot.

"Sexual activity and conduct took place not long before her death, but in order for sexual motivation to be involved in her murder there would need to be a closer connection than that.

"Shame and fear of what might happen if Tia talked are just two of the alternative possible motives behind her killing.

"Because of the way you concealed her in the loft the family were subjected to agony. Time after time you spun a wholly false story that Tia had disappeared.

"I accept that none of your previous convictions were for serious violence. You have a psychiatric history of suicide attempts and self harm. Your coping strategies were drugs and alcohol."

"None of these matters is an excuse for what you did to Tia, but they are matters which I can, and do, take into account in fixing the minimum term."

'Hurt him'

As Hazell was led away, someone in the public gallery shouted "beast".

When asked outside court if she was happy with the sentence, Tia's mother Natalie Sharp said "no".

In a statement read out in court on Monday, Ms Sharp said: "I gave the ultimate trust to Stuart.

"Sometimes I feel pity, that I want to hurt him, but I can never hurt him like he has hurt me."

Det Ch Insp Nick Scola said he was "very pleased" with the sentence.

"Hazell will have a very long time in prison to think about what he has done," he added.

Croydon Council has said the house where Tia's body was found, along with two houses either side, will be knocked down.

 
 

Tia Sharp murder trial: Profile of Stuart Hazell

BBC.co.uk

May 14, 2013

Stuart Hazell has admitted the murder of schoolgirl Tia Sharp. What do we know about Hazell?

"This is a man who has an extraordinary capacity for living through lies."

So said Stuart Hazell's defence counsel after Hazell had changed his plea on the fifth day of his trial for killing 12-year-old Tia Sharp last year, and hiding her body in a loft in south London.

Lord Carlile, mitigating, told the court it was "probably the bravest decision he's ever made in his life. Perhaps the only brave decision".

But police said the evidence against him was "overwhelming" and Hazell, 37, was left with no choice but to admit his crime.

Rape claim

Five days of court hearings at the Old Bailey have built up a picture of Hazell, a man who had a troubled childhood.

He went into care at a young age while his father was in prison and had little contact with his mother, who had worked as a prostitute, Lord Carlile told the court.

From a young age he was involved in petty crime and he started drinking at the age of 13. He was often in trouble at school.

His first conviction came when he was 14, and he later ended up at a homeless hostel in Soho, where he claimed he was raped aged 16.

He had a history of depression, self harm, suicide attempts, drug use and alcoholism, said Lord Carlile.

The court also heard that a consultant psychiatrist said Hazell fulfilled the criteria for unsocialised conduct disorder, a psychological disorder in which a person is socially isolated from their peer group.

Hazell became involved in a short relationship with Tia's mother Natalie Sharp, probably lasting only a week or two, and later with her mother, Christine Bicknell, for five and a half years. He moved in a week after they got together.

Ms Bicknell said in a statement to police that Hazell was not somebody she "dragged in from the street".

Machete attack

Hazell had a number of previous convictions going back to 1991, though none relating to serious or sexual violence.

They included convictions for:

  • Disorderly behaviour in 2001, for which he was fined

  • Racially aggravated common assault in 2002

  • Dealing cocaine in 2003, for which he was jailed for 34 months

  • Possession of a machete in a public place in 2010, for which he was jailed for 12 months

  • Grievous bodily harm in 2010 which appears to have involved punching somebody in the face in the street on at least two occasions

  • Various other offences, including burglary, theft and cannabis possession

  • During the hunt for Tia after she disappeared last August, Hazell denied abducting her - on one occasion in a television interview - and said she was "like my own daughter".

At the time Hazell was the partner of Tia's grandmother Ms Bicknell.

Hazell said at the time: "My previous has got nothing to do with it. Everyone's got a shady past.

"Did I do anything to Tia? No I bloody didn't. I'd never think of that."

The window cleaner appeared to break down as he spoke, and was supported by Tia's uncle, David Sharp.

Both wore white "Find Tia" T-shirts, and a large picture of the schoolgirl was pinned to the wall behind them.

Hazell said he felt people were "pointing the finger" at him because he had been the last person to see her.

'I don't know'

"I know deep down in my heart that Tia walked out of my house. I know she was seen walking down the pathway, she made her way down that track," he said.

"What happened after that? I don't know."

He later claimed in court that Tia had died after falling down the stairs at the Croydon home he shared with Ms Bicknell.

In reality, Hazell had sexually assaulted and murdered Tia, concealing her body in his loft.

Police who searched his house also found "extensive" pornography featuring young girls.

Sentencing Hazell to a minimum of 38 years, the judge, Mr Justice Nicol, said there was "no doubt" the Hazell had developed a sexual interest in Tia - but he could not be sure if his motivation had been sexual.

Because of this, the judge said, he could not impose a whole life tariff.

'Ultimate trust'

Lord Carlile said the easiest option would have been for Hazell to "brazen out the rest of this case".

But instead he had wanted to spare Tia's family any further suffering by continuing with the trial, and had changed his plea in a "first act of remorse".

After Hazell admitted to the murder, Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola described him as a "violent and dangerous man who poses a significant risk to young girls".

Hazell was trusted by the family and on the day of the murder he had been caring for Tia while her grandmother was at work, he said.

In his sentencing remarks, the judge said Tia had been happy to spend time in Hazell's company and Ms Bicknell had said Tia had "idolised" him.

Natalie Sharp told the court that she had given Hazell her "ultimate trust".

"Sometimes I feel pity, that I want to hurt him, but I can never hurt him like he has hurt me," she said.

 
 

Tia Sharp murder trial: Stuart Hazell pleads guilty

BBC.co.uk

May 13, 2013

The man accused of murdering 12-year-old Tia Sharp after sexually assaulting her has changed his plea to guilty.

Stuart Hazell, 37, the partner of Tia's grandmother, had claimed the girl died in an accident at their house in Croydon, south London, last year.

Tia was last seen alive at the house on 3 August and her body was found in the loft a week later.

Hazell said he changed his plea because Tia's family had "suffered enough". He will be sentenced on Tuesday.

He had claimed Tia was killed falling down the stairs and that he hid her body in panic.

Hazell has previous convictions for drug dealing, racially aggravated common assault, burglary and causing grievous bodily harm.

In a statement read to the court, Tia's mother Natalie Sharp said: "I gave the ultimate trust to Stuart.

"Sometimes I feel pity, that I want to hurt him, but I can never hurt him like he has hurt me.

"She was mine and no-one else's. I had someone to love."

'Extremely distressing'

Tia's father, Steven Carter, said Hazell should "serve his time and be hung".

"I do not see today's events as justice for Tia, merely a legal conviction," he said.

Det Ch Insp Nick Scola said the conviction would, "I hope, bring some closure for her family who have seen justice served.

"However, Hazell's conviction will never bring Tia back and her family will have to live with her loss for the rest of their lives."

Alison Saunders, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "This is an extremely distressing time for the family.

"I hope that this prosecution and the result can provide them with some small crumb of comfort in what has been a terrible time for them."

'Only brave decision'

Lord Carlile QC, mitigating, told the court that Hazell was a man "who has an extraordinary capacity for living through lies".

"The easiest thing for Stuart Hazell to do would have been to brazen out the rest of this case, possibly, or not to give evidence.

"His decision to plead guilty today is probably the bravest decision he's ever made in his life. Perhaps the only brave decision," he said.

The prosecution said Hazell had a sexual attraction to the schoolgirl.

The jury had been shown an image of a child alleged to be Tia, dead on a bed at her grandmother's house in New Addington.

Blood could be seen on the bed linen in the picture, said to have been taken in the early hours of 3 August, when prosecutors say Tia died.

Jurors heard two memory cards were found in the house, one in the kitchen and one, hidden on top of a doorframe, which contained "extensive pornography" featuring young girls.

There were also video clips and 11 still images of Tia sleeping.

'Significant sexual offence'

The trial was read a letter written by Hazell to his father from prison saying he had made "one mistake" and his "whole world collapsed" .

The letter was headed with the words "forgive me" and a picture of a sad face.

It read: "What happened I will explain in time, but put it this way, it was an accident and I panicked."

Andrew Edis QC for the prosecution told the court: "We do not know and never will know what took place in that house that night.

"But it is clear that Hazell committed a significant sexual offence against her, killed her, took her photograph as some form of keepsake, and then in quite a calculated way wrapped up the body and got it up to the loft."

During the hunt for missing Tia, Hazell said she was "like my own daughter".

He described Tia as "a happy-go-lucky golden angel" and said there had been no problems at her "loving home" before she vanished.

 
 

'Hang him': Tia Sharp's father calls for death penalty as picture emerges of Stuart Hazell in police interview room where he lied and lied and lied about murdering schoolgirl, 12

  • Convicted drug dealer Stuart Hazell, 37, had claimed Tia fell down the stairs

  • He said he was changing his plea because 'Tia's family have suffered enough'

  • The jury previously heard he had visited child porn websites and hidden memory cards filled with images

  • Hazell was in a relationship with Tia's maternal grandmother at the time of her murder and had previously had a two-week fling with the girl's mother

  • He has convictions for racially aggravated common assault, dealing cocaine and possessing a machete in 2010, for which he was jailed for 12 months

  • Hazell's mother was a prostitute and he was an alcoholic by 13, court heard

  • Prosecution says we will never know how 12-year-old died

  • Police officers searched Hazell’s loft three times before finding Tia’s body

  • The former window cleaner will be sentenced at the Old Bailey tomorrow

By Martin Robinson, Tom Kelly, Hugo Gye and Rosie Taylor - DailyMail.com

May 13, 2013

The father of Tia Sharp said today that life in prison for her killer would not be justice because Stuart Hazell should be 'hung' for murdering his daughter.

Convicted drug dealer Hazell this morning changed his plea to guilty a week into his Old Bailey trial as 'an act of remorse' and because 'Tia's family have suffered enough', his defence QC Lord Carlile said.

Prosecutors say the child porn obsessed 37-year-old sexually abused 12-year-old Tia, before he suffocated her, photographed her dead body and then he wrapped her in plastic and hid her in the loft in an 'appalling and unthinkable crime' last August.

Hazell then disrupted the police investigation by saying she went out alone and never came home. He even made a TV appeal begging for Tia’s safe return and said she was 'like my own daughter' and his 'golden girl'.

But a week later Tia's body was found inside a suitcase in the loft at the home Hazell shared with Tia's grandmother.

Despite protesting his innocence at first, Hazell then claimed the schoolgirl had fallen down the stairs in an accident at the house. But today he dramatically changed his plea and finally admitted he had killed her.

Outside court today Steven Carter, Tia's father, said Hazell, who will be sentenced tomorrow, should 'serve his time and be hung'.

'I'm glad that Stuart Hazell changed his plea to guilty this morning. The four days of trial here were very hard to deal with, hearing the vile things Hazell did to Tia,' Mr Carter said.

'Hazell will be sentenced tomorrow. In my opinion it will not be enough. He should serve his time and then be hung.

'I do not see today’s events as justice for Tia, merely a legal conviction. I would now ask to be left alone so I can grieve and put my life back together.'

Because of the seriousness of the crime, and because the murder had a sexual motive, the prosecution is demanding at least 30 years in prison without parole for Hazell.

This morning the jury in his murder trial was brought back in and the murder charge was formally re-read to the defendant.

Dressed in a t-shirt, Hazell bowed his head, shuffled his feet and then pleaded guilty prompting sobs and gasps from the public gallery.

Lord Carlile, representing Hazell, said his client wanted to make it known that 'Tia's family have suffered enough and he did not want to put them through any further stages of this trial or this process.'

In mitigation, Hazell's QC later said he had an 'extraordinary capacity for living through lies that he has made up.'

Lord Carlile added: 'The easiest thing for Stuart Hazell would have been to brazen out the rest of this case, possibly or possibly not to give evidence, and to allow us as his counsel to address the jury on his behalf and say the prosecution case just wasn't strong enough.

'His decision to plead guilty today is probably the bravest decision he has ever made in his life - maybe the only brave decision he's made in his life.'

The court also heard that Hazell had a number of previous convictions.

These included convictions for racially aggravated common assault in 2002, dealing cocaine in 2003, for which he was jailed for nearly three years, and possession of a machete in a public place in 2010, for which he spent 12 months in jail.

He also had convictions for burglary and theft.

The Old Bailey head Hazell was the son of a prostitute and a jailbird, and that he grew up in care.

By the age of 13 he was hooked on booze and received his first criminal conviction a year later, the court was told.

He fell into a life of petty crime, clocking up his more serious convictions as he grew older.

As a teenager he lived on the streets and claims he was raped in a homeless hostel in Soho when he was 16.

The court heard he suffers from depression, self harms and has attempted suicide on a number of occasions.

Hazell, who had to drink at least two cans of Fosters everyday and would neck a bottle of vodka on the way home from work, credits Tia's grandma Christine Bicknell for helping him turn his life around when he got out of prison.

His barrister Lord Carlile QC told the court: 'Christine Bicknell provided the first stability he had in his life.

'It was the first time he had been part of anything remotely resembling a family and by this time he was in his early 30s.'

The court heard he started working regularly as a window cleaner but would often call in sick and his shifts were eventually offered to someone else.

The barrister added: 'None of this background provides an excuse or what happened at the time of Tia Sharp's death.

'He know every day in prison will be severe punishment for him.

'He has pleaded guilty albeit late in the day. It has been an act of remorse which one would not have expected of this particular man.'

Hazell's guilty plea came after four days of graphic evidence during which Tia's mother, Natalie Sharp, frequently had to leave the courtroom, visibly distressed.

The prosecution case's evidence included a grotesque photograph of a girl alleged to be Tia after she died, which was found on a memory card belonging to Hazell.

In the picture, a naked girl, whose face cannot be seen, is posed on all fours on a bed. Afterwards Hazell put her body in bin bags in the loft, where it was found a week later.

The Old Bailey heard that in the weeks before her death Hazell, 37, who was obsessed with paedophile websites, had repeatedly filmed Tia as she slept – and on one occasion as she rubbed moisturiser on her legs while in her underwear.

Detectives believe he deliberately removed the bathroom door at the house at Ms Bicknell's home so he could spy on the schoolgirl. He is also thought to have modified the light socket in her room to create a 'spyhole'.

He had also searched the internet for child pornography involving children who looked like Tia, using terms including 'violent forced rape' and 'little girls in glasses'.

The window cleaner and convicted drug dealer had been in a relationship with Christine Bicknell for five and a half years, moving in just a week after they got together.

She said in a statement to police that Hazell, who had previously briefly dated Tia's mother, was not somebody she 'dragged in from the street'.

He repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, even giving a television interview claiming that he did not know what had happened to Tia.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Tia's mother Natalie Sharp said that Tia was her grandmother Christine's 'mini-me' and 'her life', adding 'When the trial is done, everything is over for everyone else, but it won't be for us.

'I gave the ultimate trust to Stuart and there is so much that I want to ask him.

'Sometimes I feel pity, that I want to hurt him, but I can never hurt him like he has hurt me.

'Since Tia was taken, I have lost my trust in everyone. It is too hard for me to believe that she is really gone. I try to think of her being on a sleepover at her friend's house.

'Jack, my eldest son who is three, asked me just this week if Tia was coming home from school soon. I've had to tell him the truth. It made him really cry. I told him that Tia is a star in the sky and now when we go up to say goodnight, we look out of the bedroom window and speak to the star, the one that was bought in Tia's name.

'I breathe for my children. I fear anyone hurting my boys. I fear that if anyone touches my sons or does anything to them, what I might do, I am so scared and angry. I have been so badly hurt by people I don't know and who know nothing of me.

'People have said the most terrible things about me as a mother and Tia's life. I can't understand how people who know nothing about somebody can send such awful messages.

'I've been stared at and physically attacked and I know people judge me when they see me buying something nice for my sons.'

Tia's father, Steven Carter, broke down in tears as Hazell changed his plea, and later said in a statement: 'The murder of my daughter Tia has shattered mine and my family's hearts. We will never get our heads around what has happened to Tia.

'My daughter Tia's life has been taken from us all, as we will never get the opportunity to share her 13th, 16th, 18th or 21st birthdays.

'We will never have the chance to see Tia walk down the aisle and get married, and have children of her own. We have all lost someone special.

'The love for Tia will always be with us, our memories of Tia smiling and playing will never be forgotten.

'My last memory of Tia is her jumping into my arms giving me a kiss and her telling me she loved me.

'I will never get this opportunity again, but it is one of the many memories I will cherish for the rest of my life.

'The community of New Addington has lost someone special and they themselves will never forget Tia.

'Myself and those of my family with children will never be the same as we all have stopped our children's freedom to go out and play, as we fear of something happening.'

Tia's heartbroken step grandmother, the mother of Natalie Sharp's partner David today spoke of her 'relief' after Stuart Hazell changed his plea to guilty.

Angie Niles, 69, said: 'It's a very emotional time for all of the family who are sitting here around the TV, but in a strange way we also feel relief.

'It says a lot about the man, just when you thought he couldn't do anymore to our family he's dragged this out over months insisting he was innocent and only now at the very last moment has he put his hands up and admitted what he has done.

'In a strange way I feel like it had to happen this way - maybe it's good that a judge and members of the public have had the chance to hear exactly what this sick man has done.

'Maybe it's good for all of us to have heard the truth in court so that none of this was buried, none of this remains secret.

'It does feel like some sort of closure, it feels like it was the right time. Now we can get on with grieving for my beloved grand-daughter.

The process isn't easy but now we can get on as best as we can. I hope the judge locks him up forever and throws away the key. He doesn't deserve anymore than that.'

Scotland Yard today welcomed his guilty plea but said it should have come sooner.

Senior Investigating Officer DCI Nick Scola said: 'The conviction today of Stuart Hazell for the murder of 12-year-old Tia Sharp in August 2012 will, I hope, bring some closure for her family who have seen justice served. However, Hazell's conviction will never bring Tia back and her family will have to live with her loss for the rest of their lives.

'Tia was murdered by a man who had gained the trust of Tia's family and who, on that day, was tasked with looking after her whilst her grandmother was at work. Hazell abused that position of trust by planning an assault on Tia that ultimately led to her murder.

'The evidence was overwhelming and clearly Hazell realised he had no choice but to plead guilty. However, he put Tia's family through a week of heart-breaking evidence in court and I wish for their sakes he had admitted his guilt sooner.

'Hazell is an extremely dangerous individual who poses a significant threat to young girls and it is only right that he should be imprisoned and removed from society so that he can no longer pose any risk.

'I would like to pay tribute to Tia's family for showing such courage and stamina throughout this horrendous ordeal - from the time of the murder through to the conviction - and I truly hope they can move forward with their lives in the knowledge that Hazell will now pay for his crime.'

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola reiterated the Scotland Yard apology to Tia's family outside the Old Bailey.

But the senior investigating officer said that while finding the body during the first two searches would have meant he was charged sooner it 'would not have made any difference' to what happened afterwards, merely brought it forward.

They would still have had to deal with Hazell's lies and his interest in child porn and young girls, he said.

'The early searches were really just a look round, they were not deep searches,' he added.

Alison Saunders, chief Crown Prosecutor for London, said: 'This was an appalling and unthinkable crime, made worse by Hazell's efforts to hide Tia's body and disrupt the police investigation.

'As an adult and trusted family member, he had responsibility for ensuring Tia's safety. Instead, he abused and murdered her.'

Prosecutors believe Tia was murdered in the early hours of August 3 last year while she was alone with Hazell as her grandmother worked overnight at a care home.

Christine Bicknell called Hazell from work and said she could hear Tia laughing in the background as they watched TV, the court heard. Hazell sent Miss Bicknell a text at 10.12pm saying:‘Tia’s going to bed after Family Guy baby then I’m going to pass out.’

Another message from him at 11.44pm said: ‘Night, night baby, call you tomorrow.’

But the prosecution claim instead of going to bed, he attacked Tia over the next few hours.

Andrew Edis QC told the court that Hazell could face a whole life sentence because the murder of Tia Sharp was sexually motivated.

He said: 'We do not know and will never know exactly what took place in the house that night but it is the submission of the prosecution that it's clear that Hazell committed a significant sexual offence against her, killed her, took her photograph as some form of keepsake and then in quite a calculated way wrapped up the body.'

Mr Edis added that Tia was sexually assaulted, but said: 'What else it may have involved cannot be known.'

Semen was found on the duvet and Tia's DNA and blood was found on Hazell's belt.

The prosecutor also highlighted Hazell's behaviour in 'the taking of the photograph after she had died for sexual gratification and having done that in dressing her in her pajamas and wrapping up separately her outdoor clothing and putting her body in the loft.

'This was concealment that lasted a week, that was carefully organised. He went on television to proclaim his innocence and in the event continued to deny what had happened even when he was arrested after the body had started to smell in the house.'

The Old Bailey heard earlier that he told his father he regretted Tia's death 'every second of every day' in a letter begging for forgiveness.

He wrote to his dad Keith from Belmarsh prison in August last year, saying he had made 'one mistake and my whole world has collapsed'.

He told his father that he wishes he could 'turn back the clock' and that he was unable to eat or sleep in prison.

The letter had two pictures of sad faces drawn on it and had two words written at the top: 'Forgive me'.

The jury heard that Hazell was a man that Tia has 'idolised', and were shown CCTV footage of her final hours beside her killer.

The 12-year-old was seen on her last journey chatting cheerfully with him as they shopped in the local supermarket.

While on remand at Belmarsh Prison, Hazell told guards that Tia had broken her neck accidentally falling down the stairs.

But pathologists were unable to find any evidence of a broken neck or skull fracture consistent with dying from a fall.

When Tia was reported missing, Hazell told her family and police that he had seen her leaving his house to meet a friend.

Relatives, friends and neighbours carried out a huge search.

During the week-long hunt, Tia’s mother went to stay at Hazell’s house, unaware that her daughter’s body was hidden upstairs.

Hazell even made a TV appeal for Tia’s safe return and criticised those who suggested he had something to do with her disappearance.

In an interview Hazell gave to ITV he appealed for Tia’s safe return, insisted she was like his own child, described her as ‘a golden angel’ and said he did not know what had happened to her.

Mr Justice Nicol is due to sentence Hazell on Tuesday morning.

He is certain to receive a life sentence but the judge will have to decide the minimum number of years he will be kept behind bars.

Hazell claimed Tia was his 'golden girl' and 'like my own daughter' but spun a web of lies during police search while her body was hidden in his loft

Stuart Hazell's guilty plea comes after months of lies about Tia Sharp's final movements.

During the week-long hunt for the then missing schoolgirl, Hazell, 37, a convicted drug dealer, denied abducting her, saying she was 'like my own daughter'.

At the time Hazell was the partner of Tia's grandmother Christine.

He said at the time: 'My previous has got nothing to do with it. Everyone's got a shady past. Did I do anything to Tia? No I bloody didn't. I'd never think of that.'

He described Tia as 'a happy-go-lucky golden angel' and said there had been no problems at her 'loving home' before she vanished.

Hazell said he and Tia had been alone at the home he shared with Christine in south London on the Thursday night and Friday morning when she disappeared.

On the Friday, he said, she left the house at 12.10pm, having previously told him she wanted to buy some new shoes.

She did not take her mobile phone, which was charging, or a travel card and had no bag when she left.

Hazell broke down as he spoke, supported by Tia's uncle David Sharp.

Both wore white 'Find Tia' T-shirts and a large picture of the schoolgirl was pinned to the wall behind them.

Hazell said he felt people were 'pointing the finger' at him because he had been the last person to see her.

Hazell said: 'I know deep down in my heart that Tia walked out of my house.

'I know she was seen walking down the pathway, she made her way down that track. What happened after that. I don't know.'

Met Police apologises to Tia's family after her body was missed in sweep of her killer's loft claiming 'early searches were just a look round'

Police unsuccessfully searched the loft where Tia Sharp’s body was hidden twice but only discovered her on the third attempt.

The officer in charge of the hunt today apologised for his force's incompetence and admitted that the first two searches were 'really just a look round'.

Tia’s body was found wrapped in a sheet and layers of plastic in the loft of her grandmother’s home on August 10 last year, a week after she went missing.

It was only when detectives noticed a smell of decomposition in the upstairs of Christine Bicknell’s house that Tia was finally found.

'The early searches were really just a look round, they were not deep searches,' Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola said outside the Old Bailey today after Stuart Hazell pleaded guilty to Tia's murder.

He apologised for not finding the 12-year-old's body earlier, but said that if she had been discovered it 'would not have made any difference' to her fate.

Hazell is due to be sentenced tomorrow, having changed his plea after months of protesting his innocence.

A police constable first went into the loft on August 4, climbing up on a stool balanced on a chair.

He said: 'I was searching for a missing girl and from what I could see the loft seemed very clear. I thought, "She is not hiding in here."'

The following day a specialist team came in, and one officer said he would have recognised the smell of a decomposing body if it had been apparent.

His colleague said he took about 25 minutes to search the loft, including moving around black bags which the team believed were too light to contain anything significant.

Later, a search dog was brought to the house in New Addington, South London, and indicated that there was something above one of the bedrooms, but the animal was too large to take into the loft so the officers ignored the warning.

On August 10 a detective noticed the smell of decomposition in the house, which Ms Bicknell mistakenly thought was cat faeces.Another dog also indicated that something might be in the loft of the house, and Tia's body was found during a more thorough search.

Detective Constable Daniel Chatfield, who found Tia’s body as he and a crime scene manager searched the loft, said: 'The loft was extremely confined, it was very hot and quite chaotic, so there were a lot of boxes and bags around the hatch entrances which needed to be moved in order to search further into the loft.

'After about 10 minutes my colleague Mr Langley had alerted me to what he believed to be the body of Tia.'

In the wake of Tia’s death, Scotland Yard apologised to her family that it had taken so long to find her.

Hazell was obsessed with child porn and had relationships with grandmother, mother and 'committed a significant sexual offence against granddaughter Tia'

Stuart Hazell was a pornography addict who downloaded sexually explicit pictures of children before he killed Tia Sharp.

The 37-year-old was particularly looking for images of girls who looked like Tia, it has been revealed, and was caught with 'extensive pornography' on a memory card which he had tried to hide from police.

He had also filmed the 12-year-old while she slept, and captured a video of her as she rubbed cream into her legs.

This morning Hazell pleaded guilty to Tia's murder, saying her family had 'suffered enough', after protesting his innocence for months.

When her body was found in his attic, Hazell's DNA was on her clothes and Tia's blood was found on his belt, leading the prosecution to accuse him of sexually assaulting her before her death.

The schoolgirl's killer had previously been in relationships with both her mother and her grandmother.

Hazell first met Tia's grandmother Christine Bicknell around 2003 or 2004, when she was working as a barmaid at a pub in Merton, South London.

He then had a relationship with her daughter Natalie Sharp, Tia's mother, but it lasted no more than a couple of weeks.

Hazell started seeing Ms Sharp in April 2007, and a month later moved into her house in New Addington.

Around the time of Tia's death her killer took to Google to look up pornographic pictures of young girls, police discovered after searching his house following his arrest last August.

He apparently sought out images of girls who looked especially like Tia, wearing glasses and having their hair in a ponytail.

Hazell was obsessed with paedophile websites, and apparently acted out his fantasies by taking pictures of Tia, the granddaughter of his then girlfriend Christine Bicknell.

Police found 11 photographs and three video clips showing the girl sleeping on two memory cards hidden in his home.

At least one of the cards had been stashed in the doorway of a cupboard.

Police said they believed he had removed the bathroom door so he could spy on the girl, and modified the light socket in her room to create a 'spyhole'.

The most shocking image was taken after the schoolgirl's death, according to the prosecution.

It showed Tia naked lying on a bed, and was captured a few hours after she died for Hazell's 'sexual excitement', prosecutor Andrew Edis QC said during the trial.

He 'committed a significant sexual offence' against her before suffocating her and hiding her body in Ms Bicknell's attic.

Ms Sharp fled from the Old Bailey courtroom in tears when the footage of her daughter was shown to jurors.

Hazell had also collected images of young girls being abused, and visited a site devoted to glorifying incest.

Forensic analysis of his mobile phone records showed that he had been looking up child pornography via Google.

 
 

Tia Sharp death: Accused Stuart Hazell 'took photo of dead girl'

BBC.co.uk

May 7, 2013

The man accused of murdering schoolgirl Tia Sharp took a photograph of the naked 12-year-old dead on her bed, the Old Bailey has heard.

Stuart Hazell, the former boyfriend of Tia's grandmother, allegedly had a sexual attraction to the schoolgirl, a jury was told.

Her body was found in the loft of her grandmother's south London house last August, a week after she went missing.

Mr Hazell, 37, of New Addington, south London, denies murder.

Body 'posed'

Prosecutor Andrew Edis QC showed jurors an image of a child alleged to be Tia, although the girl's face cannot be seen, on her bed at her grandmother's house.

Blood could be seen on the bed linen in the picture, said to have been taken in the early hours of 3 August, when prosecutors say Tia died.

The court heard Tia had used Blackberry messaging, or BBM, on her mobile phone to speak to a friend until 00:42 BST on 3 August.

"After that, the prosecution say, she did not use her mobile phone ever again," Mr Edis said.

He said it seemed sensible to suggest she had died after that time, and told the court the photograph of her allegedly dead on the bed was taken at 03:00 BST at the earliest - more likely at about 06:00 BST that day.

A pathologist who examined the body, as well as the photograph, said marks on Tia's body suggested she had been moved after she died, and "posed" into the position seen in the photograph, Mr Edis said.

He told the jury: "The prosecution case is that Stuart Hazell had a sexual attraction for Tia Sharp, that there was some form of sexual assault, something of that kind, and that was the reason he killed her."

'Distressing' evidence

The court heard two memory cards were found in the house, one in the kitchen and one, hidden on top of a doorframe, which contained "extensive pornography" featuring young girls.

There were also three video clips of Tia sleeping in her bedroom and 11 still images of her sleeping.

Another image showed a young girl lying naked on Tia's bed, and there were "professional" pornographic images of young girls performing sex acts, the jury heard.

Mr Edis said internet history on Mr Hazell's phone showed searches of a website that was popular with paedophiles.

He said Mr Hazell had also visited a pornographic website on 6 August - while Tia's body was in the loft.

Mr Edis told jurors they will have to decide whether Mr Hazell is guilty of murder, or whether Tia died in an accident.

He warned them they will find some of the evidence in the trial, which is expected to last nearly three weeks, "distressing".

Mr Edis told the jury the loft had been inspected by police twice before Tia's body was found.

"They only found it, I am afraid, because it had started to smell," he said.

"It was quite well hidden. It has been moved up and then across within the loft space."

He said the girl's body had been "carefully wrapped" in a sheet first and then bin bags, before being sealed with tape.

Mr Hazell denies killing the schoolgirl between 2 August and 10 August, when her body was found.

 
 

Tia Sharp police arrest Stuart Hazell on suspicion of murder

BBC.co.uk

August 10, 2012

The partner of Tia Sharp's grandmother has been arrested on suspicion of murdering the 12-year-old, the Metropolitan Police said.

Police were searching for Stuart Hazell, 37, after a body was discovered earlier at Christine Sharp's house in New Addington, Croydon.

Tia, 12, was reported missing last Friday sparking a huge search effort.

Mr Hazell was arrested in Merton, south London, at 20:25 BST after he was identified by a member of the public.

A murder investigation was launched after police searching for Tia found a body.

They are yet to formally identify the body but the family has been informed.

'Addington's Angel'

Earlier, Met Commander Neil Basu said there had been four searches at the property in the past week, two with sniffer dogs, including a search of the girl's bedroom.

Tia's uncle David Sharp, her grandmother and Mr Hazell had all made appeals to find the schoolgirl.

She was said to have gone missing after leaving the house for the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon at about midday last Friday to buy flip-flops.

Since the news of the body's discovery, several people have laid tributes for the girl near a garage close to her grandmother's house, which still has a cordon in place on the approach to it.

In tributes the schoolgirl was described as "Addington's Angel" while another message on a flower bouquet said "Justice will be served".

Another message from several people who joined in the search for Tia read: "We searched so hard to find you."

Up to 80 police officers have been involved in the search for Tia and more than 800 hours of CCTV footage has been gathered from the local area including trams and buses.

Earlier this week about 200 people helped police search an area of woodland known as Birchwood not far from the house.

Mr Basu said: "Our priority is to support the family of Tia at this distressing time and identify the body, which has been discovered, as quickly as possible.

"When Tia was first reported missing, officers searched her bedroom, as is normal practice in a missing persons inquiry.

"A further search of the house took place in the early hours of Sunday morning by a specialist team.

"This was then followed by another search of the house by specialist dogs on Wednesday lunchtime.

"What we now need to establish is how long the body had been in the place where it was found."

The body was discovered within hours of the area near the house being cordoned off at about noon on Friday.

Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell praised the support offered to the family.

He added: "The police have yet to formally confirm that the body is Tia's, yet this devastating development will come as a huge blow to her family and the community in New Addington, all of whom have worked tirelessly to try to find her over the past week."

 
 

Tia Sharp search: Body found in grandmother's house

BBC.co.uk

August 10, 2012

Police searching for the missing schoolgirl Tia Sharp have found a body in her grandmother's south London home.

The Metropolitan Police said the body was found following a search of the property in New Addington, Croydon, earlier.

The 12-year-old has been missing since last Friday.

Police are seeking Stuart Hazell, 37, the partner of Tia's grandmother Christine Sharp, and have asked people to call 999 rather than approach him.

No arrests have been made.

'Matter of urgency'

Commander Neil Basu, of the Met, said the property had been searched three previous times in the past week and the latest search was carried out with the "full co-operation" of the family.

He said: "Our priority is to support the family of Tia at this distressing time and identify the body, which has been discovered, as quickly as possible.

"When Tia was first reported missing, officers searched her bedroom, as is normal practice in a missing persons inquiry.

"A further search of the house took place in the early hours of Sunday morning by a specialist team.

"This was then followed by another search of the house by specialist dogs on Wednesday lunchtime.

"What we now need to establish is how long the body that's been discovered has been in place and where it was found, and this will be the subject of ongoing investigation and it would be wrong to jump to any conclusions until the facts have been established."

He added: "Our priority now is to establish the facts of this case and to assist us with this, we are keen to speak to all those people who last saw Tia. In particular, we want to trace Stuart Hazell as a matter of urgency."

Officers had cordoned off the area around the house at about noon to carry out a forensic search, which the Met had said could take up to two days.

Earlier, officers with a police dog spent about 30 minutes in the house.

Tia's uncle, grandmother and Mr Hazell had all made appeals to find the schoolgirl.

It is understood she regularly visited her grandmother's house and was believed to have been at the property alone with Mr Hazell on the night before she disappeared.

'Finger pointed'

Mr Hazell, who said he was not the last person to see the girl after she left the house, was questioned by police on Wednesday, but then released.

He claimed Tia set off for the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon last Friday to buy flip-flops, having spent Thursday night alone with him while her grandmother was at work.

His sister, Sarah Parrat, said she did not believe her brother was involved and suspected "he is probably in a pub somewhere trying to get his head around it".

Alston Millington, 32, who lives nearby, said: "It is such sad news. I live just around the corner and can't believe it."

Following Tia's disappearance, a Facebook campaign was launched to find her and about 200 people helped police search a woodland near the house.

Before officers sealed the house earlier on Friday to carry out a search, Mrs Sharp was seen to leave the property with police in plain clothes.

At the time she said the missing girl's mother, Natalie, was "in bits" and that she did not know where she was as "she needed to get away".

She said all family members had done their "own little separate bit" to help in the search, including Mr Hazell, but she did not know where he was.

Mrs Sharp also added: "He knows the finger has been pointed at him.

"He knows this and it's been really hard for him."

In an interview on Thursday with ITV News, Mr Hazell issued a plea to Tia to come home.

Referring to the finger being pointed at him, he said: "Well, if they believe what they read in the papers, they can believe whatever they like because I know deep down in my heart that Tia walked out of my house, she walked out of there."

Asked about his history, he replied: "Everyone's got a shady past. My previous has nothing to do with it."

Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell praised the support offered to the family and said the discovery of the body was "a huge blow".

"The police have yet to formally confirm that the body is Tia's, yet this devastating development will come as a huge blow to her family and the community in New Addington, all of whom have worked tirelessly to try to find her over the past week," he added.

Up to 80 police officers have been involved in the search for Tia, and more than 800 hours of CCTV footage has been gathered from the local area, trams and buses.

The 4ft 5in girl was last filmed by CCTV cameras on Thursday afternoon outside the Co-op in Featherbed Lane, near her grandmother's house. Since then officers found no trace of her.

 
 

Tia Sharp: Police concern over missing girl

BBC.co.uk

August 4, 2012

Police have said they are concerned about a 12-year-old girl who has not been seen since Friday afternoon.

Tia Sharp left her grandmother's home in New Addington, south London, heading for the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon town centre.

Police said she only has a small amount of money and did not take her travel card or her mobile phone.

They added her disappearance is out of character and are appealing for help in finding her.

The clothing she was last seen wearing is described as a yellow bandeau top, light grey leopard print leggings and black and pink Nike high top trainers.

She is known to frequent the Croydon, Mitcham and Wimbledon areas of south London.

 

 

 
 
 
 
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