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| Tia Sharp murder trial: Stuart Hazell jailed for 38 years | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Stuart Hazell has been jailed for a minimum 38 years for killing his partner's granddaughter, Tia Sharp. | |
| The 37-year-old had denied murder, however 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. | |
| Judge 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 pre-meditated. | |
| 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." | |
| 'Subjected to agony' | |
| Hazell hid her 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 Nicol said: "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 previous violence. You have a psychiatric history of suicide attempts and self harm. Your coping strategies were drugs and alcohol." | |
| In a statement read out in court, Tia's mother Natalie Sharp said: "I gave the ultimate trust to Stuart. | In a statement read out in 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." | "Sometimes I feel pity, that I want to hurt him, but I can never hurt him like he has hurt me." |