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April Jones killer Mark Bridger drops sentence appeal | April Jones killer Mark Bridger drops sentence appeal |
(35 minutes later) | |
April Jones's killer Mark Bridger has dropped his application for permission to appeal against his whole-life term. | |
The Judicial Office confirmed that Bridger, 47, had abandoned his attempt 11 days before a hearing was due to take place. | |
Bridger was convicted of murdering five-year-old April, from Machynlleth, Powys, last May. | Bridger was convicted of murdering five-year-old April, from Machynlleth, Powys, last May. |
The schoolgirl went missing from outside her home on 1 October 2012. Her body has never been found. | |
April's family have been informed of the decision. | |
Her grandfather Dai Smith said the news was a "weight off our minds". | |
He told BBC News: "I don't think he should have been allowed to appeal. He's done an horrific crime and he should spend the rest of his life in the prison. | |
"That's it as far as I'm concerned. He should never be let out." | |
"It's a big relief to Paul and Coral and the whole family." | |
Mr Smith added he had "no doubts" about the validity of whole-life tariffs. | |
The hearing had been due at the Court of Appeal in London on 24 January. | |
Laptop | |
Bridger took April from outside her home in a sexually-motivated attack before murdering her and disposing of her body. | |
Blood and fragments of bone consistent with a young human skull were found at his home. | |
Child sex abuse images were found on his laptop, along with images of children from the area. | |
Bridger had claimed he had run over April in his car and could not remember where he disposed of her body. | |
His trial at Mold Crown Court lasted five weeks. | |
When sentencing Bridger, Mr Justice Griffith Williams 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." | |
Police believe Bridger dismembered April and dumped her body parts at locations in the hills, rivers and forests surrounding his home in Ceinws near Machynlleth. | |
Fewer than 50 other people in the UK have whole-life terms. They include the Moors murderer Ian Brady, who killed five children along with his accomplice Myra Hindley. |
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