The man found guilty of abducting and murdering five-year-old April Jones in a sexually motivated attack must spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The man found guilty of abducting and murdering five-year-old April Jones in a sexually motivated attack must spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Mark Bridger, 47, of Ceinws, Powys, had claimed he accidentally run April over near her Machynlleth home and could not recall where he had put her body.
Mark Bridger, 47, of Ceinws, Powys, had claimed he accidentally run April over near her Machynlleth home and could not recall where he had put her body.
But the jury at Mold Crown Court unanimously convicted him in a case lasting four-and-a-half weeks.
But the jury at Mold Crown Court unanimously convicted him in a case lasting four-and-a-half weeks.
During sentencing, the judge called Bridger a "pathological liar".
The judge called him a "pathological liar" and "a paedophile".
He said there was no doubt in his mind that Bridger was "a paedophile" and referred to the "foul pornography" on his computer.
Bridger was "on the prowl" and "set out to find a little girl" to abuse for a sexual purpose, he said.
April went missing on 1 October 2012 near her Machynlleth home sparking the biggest search in UK police history.
April went missing on 1 October 2012 near her Machynlleth home sparking the biggest search in UK police history.
Earlier, the jury took four hours and six minutes to convict Bridger, watched by April's parents Paul, 41, and 43-year-old Coral,
Her remains have never been found.
April's mother looked tearful but both parents maintained a dignified silence throughout the verdicts, standing side by side.
Having deliberated for just over four hours, the jury returned three guilty verdicts - abduction, murder and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
After the jury and public gallery had been cleared following the verdicts, prosecutors, investigating police officers and court staff were visibly emotional.
Ever since his arrest, Bridger stuck steadfastly to his story about not remembering where he put April's remains.
But shortly after he was convicted it emerged that while on remand at HMP Manchester, he told a prison priest he disposed of April's body in a river - thought to be the Dyfi close to where Bridger was arrested.
This conversation was the subject of legal arguments during the trial.
The jury was absent during the discussion and the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to submit the evidence.
What was revealed during the trial was fragments of bone consistent with a juvenile human skull were found among ashes in the woodburner, along with April's blood near to a number of knives, including one which was badly burned.
Bridger's cottage had also been extensively cleaned.
A library of child sex abuse images were found on Bridger's computer, and evidence of search terms including "naked young five-year-old girls" as well as pictures of murder victims including the Soham victims Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
He also had Facebook pictures of local young girls including April and her sisters.
Before sentencing a statement was read in court on behalf of April's mother which said she would never forget the night they allowed their daughter out to play with her friend, something they had done hundreds of times before.
Before sentencing a statement was read in court on behalf of April's mother which said she would never forget the night they allowed their daughter out to play with her friend, something they had done hundreds of times before.
"We will never see her bring home her first boyfriend and Paul will never walk her down the aisle," it said.
"Words alone cannot describe how we are feeling or how we manage to function on a daily basis and I would never want any other family to go through what we are and will go through for the rest of our lives," it read.
"April was born prematurely weighing only 4lbs 2oz and was in intensive care for two weeks. She has always been a little fighter and we later found out that she had a hole in her heart and a heart murmur."
It went on: "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 fought to come into the world, she fought to stay in this world and he has taken her not only from us but from everyone who loved her.
"I will never see her smile again or hear her stomping around upstairs and on to the landing.
"We will never see her bring home her first boyfriend and Paul will never walk her down the aisle.
"How will we ever get over it?"
"How will we ever get over it?"
Bridger's defence lawyer later admitted there was "little if any mitigation" to offer and accepted, given his age, his client would spend the rest of his life behind bars.
April's disappearance sparked the biggest missing person search in UK police history, focusing on around 650 areas near her home town and involving hundreds of experts as well as thousands of members of the public.
Bridger was also found guilty of intending to pervert the the course of justice.
Dyfed-Powys Police received help from 45 other UK forces.
It also emerged that Bridger told a prison priest he had dumped April's body in a river.
The evidence was the subject of legal arguments during the trial. The jury was absent during the discussion and the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to submit the evidence.
Bridger told chaplain Father Barry O'Sullivan what he had done while he was held awaiting trial in prison in Manchester.
The court was not told which river was involved but it is thought to be the Dyfi near which Bridger was arrested.
During the trial, the jury heard how April, whose body has never been found, was taken from the Bryn-y-Gog estate in Machynlleth at about 19:00 GMT in October last year.
She had eaten her tea before having a swimming lesson and had nagged her parents to be allowed to go and ride her bike with her friend. They refused saying it was getting late but eventually they gave in to April's tears - a scenario which the judge said "struck a chord with many parents".
April's friend, who was aged seven, recalled how she had shouted to April "come on..." and told her it was getting dark. She could see April talking to Bridger - who would not have been an unfamiliar face on her housing estate - then climb into the front seat of his Land Rover.
She was "happy and smiling" the jury were told.
When arrested the next day, Bridger, a father of six, constructed a "web of lies" to cover up the abduction of April, who had mild cerebral palsy.
"He has played a cruel game in pretending not to know what he has done to her and with her. It is a game to try and save himself," Elwen Evans QC, prosecuting, said.
Bridger claimed he had accidentally run her over and was too drunk to remember where he had left her body.
He said he could not remember how April's blood came to be found at his home and had no recall of an "extensive clean-up operation" inside the cottage.
Fragments of bone consistent with a juvenile human skull were found in ashes in the wood burner, with a number of knives nearby including one that was badly burned.
Bridger was described as being an "experienced slaughterman" at a nearby abattoir.
"What happened to April as she lay bleeding in front of the fire in the defendant's living room?" Ms Evans said.
"One person, we say, knows and he's not prepared to say."
The prosecuting QC argued that Bridger's motive for the assault was sexual.
She highlighted child sex abuse images found on his computer and search terms including "naked young five-year-old girls" as well as pictures of murder victims including the Soham victims Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
He also had Facebook pictures of local young girls including April's teenage half-sisters.
Bridger's movements
Bridger, the court heard, had broken up with his girlfriend that day and had sent messages to three women on Facebook, asking two of them to meet up with "no strings attached".
He had also viewed pornographic and child sex abuse images on his laptop.
In the hours leading up to April's abduction, Bridger had also approached a 10-year-old friend of his daughter's, asking her if she wanted to come for a sleepover sometime.
He had gone to a parent's evening at April's school, as had her parents Coral and Paul Jones.
As news of April's disappearance spread in Machynlleth as well as social networking sites across the UK, a number of witnesses came forward to say they had seen Bridger driving around the Bryn-y-Gog estate on the evening April went missing.
The following day, before he became a suspect, he was filmed on a police helicopter camera walking his dog near his cottage, where the chimney smoked fiercely.
People who spoke to him remembered he was perhaps unduly upset about April's disappearance.
Bridger was arrested later that afternoon as he walked along the road out of Machynlleth. His first words after confirming his name to police was "I know what this is about".
From that point on, he became an emotional wreck. In tears he said: "I crushed her with the car. I don't know where she is."
Bridger claimed he did his best to revive April before lifting her body into his car, driving round, swigging vodka and panicking.
Searches of CCTV cameras around the town showed no images of Bridger's car between 1900 GMT and midnight.
Blood and urine tests taken from Bridger also showed no evidence of heavy drinking and an inspection of his vehicle also showed no evidence of a collision.
Bridger, the jury heard, had lied extensively about a past military career, including the SAS, but admitted in court he had made the stories up.
Bridger did spend a lot of time outdoors participating in what he called survival and bush craft and claimed to know the "rugged terrain" around Machynlleth well.
When confronted with indecent pictures of children on his computers, Bridger said they were research so he could understand the physical changes his young daughter was undergoing.
He said he was disgusted by them and had written letters of complaint to the websites who had published them.
As Bridger continued to insist he had no recollection about what he had done with April's remains, the hunt for her went into full force, focusing on around 650 areas near her home town and involving hundreds of experts as well as thousands of members of the public.
Dyfed-Powys Police force received help from 45 other UK forces.
Insp Gareth Thomas who led the search told the jury he was "extremely confident" that if April's body was anywhere in the vicinity, it would have been found.
Insp Gareth Thomas who led the search told the jury he was "extremely confident" that if April's body was anywhere in the vicinity, it would have been found.
The seven-month search for her remains was finally called off last month.
The seven-month search for her remains was finally called off last month.
