Mark Bridger jailed for life for April Jones murder
Mark Bridger will spend the rest of his life in jail after being given a "whole life" sentence for the abduction and murder of five-year-old April Jones in October last year.
Bridger, 47, denied murder but said that he had run over April in his car and maintains that he can not remember where he had put her body.
The former slaughterhouse worker was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice, and sentenced to whole life imprisonment.
In his damning sentencing remarks, the judge called Bridger a "pathalogical liar" and a "paedophile", and said he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Five-year-old April went missing after 7pm on 1 October last year while playing on her bike near her home in Machynlleth, mid-Wales.
Bridger has relentlessly spun a web of lies and half-truths to try and distance himself from the truly horrific nature of the crime he perpetrated- Ed Beltrami, CPS WalesApril's best friend gave evidence to court and recalled how on the evening she disappeared from the Bryn-y-Gog estate, she had seen April climb into the front seat of Bridger's Land Rover.
The jury took just over four hours to deliberate at Mold Crown Court, Flintshire, and all verdicts were unanimous.
The nine women and three men of the jury convicted Bridger of Ceinws on three counts: abducting and murdering April, and of unlawfully disposing of and concealing her body with intent to pervert the course of justice.
From the dock, Bridger, wearing a blue shirt and spotted tie, closed his eyes and appeared to hold back tears as the guilty verdicts were read.
Judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams gave Bridger a "whole life" sentence.
He said: "There is no doubt in my mind that you are a paedophile who has for some time harboured sexual and morbid fantasies about young girls, storing on your laptop not only images of pre-pubescent and pubescent girls, but foul pornography of the gross sexual abuse of young children."
The judged added that the Jones family had had to endure Bridger's "hypocritical sympathy," and that April got into his car "innocently and trustingly".
Mother: living with 'guilt'
April's parents Paul, 41, and Coral, 43, said they were "relieved" by the verdict.
They had attended every day of the month-long trial and followed the verdicts from the public gallery, on a balcony overlooking the court room. Mrs Jones appeared to wipe away tears as the verdicts were announced.
They came down to the ground floor of the courtroom for the judge's sentencing, and looked straight at Bridger while the judge's remarks were read out.
In a moving victim impact statement, read out to the courtroom by the judge after the jury's verdict, Mrs Jones said "the estate is quiet" as children are no longer allowed out to play.
"As April's mother I will live with the guilt of letting her go out to play on the estate that night for the rest of my life," she said.
She added that she still hasn't been able to go into April's bedroom because of the "pain" of her not being there, and that writing Christmas cards "broke my heart", as she didn't know whether to sign April's name. She opted instead for a pink ribbon, that became a symbol within the community of the missing five-year-old.
'Cold-hearted murderer'
The trial, which began five weeks ago, was told that Bridger was a "fantasist" who had "a clear interest in child pornography and in child murder cases".
The court heard how on the day of April's abduction, Bridger had watched child sex images and pornography on his computer. He had also sent messages to three separate women on Facebook, asking two of them if they wanted to meet up with "no strings attached".
Following the verdict, prosecutors said that Bridger was a "cold-hearted murderer" who "spun a web of lies and half-truths" to try to get away with his "truly horrific" crime.
Ed Beltrami, chief crown prosecutor for CPS Wales welcomed the jury's verdict.
"Ever since his first interview with police in October last year, Mark Bridger has relentlessly spun a web of lies and half-truths to try and distance himself from the truly horrific nature of the crime he perpetrated," he said. "He has refused to take responsibility for what he did to April and has stopped at nothing to try and cover his tracks."
The search for April, codenamed Operation Tempest, sparked the largest search operation in British policing history, which also involved hundreds of local volunteers.
It lasted almost eight months and involved 17 police teams scouring 32sq km of countryside.
April Jones's murder is the second high-profile case this month to feature disturbing extreme pornography, after Stuart Hazell was found guilty of murdering 12-year-old Tia Sharp.
Phillip Noyes, acting chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "This terrible case, made worse for the family by Bridger’s refusal to say where April’s body is, has left a deep scar on the nation.
"This case points to the ever-growing evidence that there is a worrying link between looking at this vile kind of material and committing other serious sexual assaults. April’s death will hopefully lead to effective measures to stamp out this vile trade."
http://www.channel4.com/news/april-jone ... ger-guilty
Login
Register
FAQ
like it 
