'Cold-blooded murderer' Mark Bridger jailed for LIFE for abducting and killing April Jones before disposing of her remains

Loner Mark Bridger was today branded a 'cold-blooded murderer' and 'pathological liar' as he was sentenced to life in jail for the abduction and killing of five-year-old April Jones.

Former slaughterhouse worker Bridger, 47, who abducted and murdered April before disposing of her remains, was given a whole life sentence at Mold Crown Court today.

April vanished while playing on her bike near her home in Machynlleth, mid-Wales, on October 1 last year and her body has never been found.

Bridger was given a whole life term by trial judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams, who told the convicted killer he had 'morbid fantasies about young girls'.

Bridger stood impassively as sentence was handed down but shook his head when the judge addressed his perverted interest in violent child abuse.

The judge 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."

The judge said Bridger had stored on his laptop "not only images of pre-pubescent and pubescent girls but foul pornography of the gross sexual abuse of young children.

"What prompted you on Monday October 1 to live out one of those fantasies is a matter for speculation, but it may have been a combination of the ending of one sexual relationship and your drinking.

"Whatever, you set out to find a little girl to abuse. I am not sure you targeted April specifically - it was probably fortuitous that she can be seen on some of the images which you stored on your laptop of her older sister - but you were on the prowl for a young girl."

Earlier on Thursday a jury of nine women and three men convicted Bridger, 47, of Ceinws, of abducting and murdering April and of unlawfully disposing of and concealing her body with intent to pervert the course of justice.

[Related: April Jones 'threw tantrum' to go play outside with friends - 20 minutes later she was gone]

The disappearance of April, who had cerebral palsy, sparked a massive outpouring of support for her family, with hundreds of people joining in the search.

April's parents Paul, 41, and Coral, 43, who have attended every day of the month-long trial, were following 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.

The verdicts were greeted with complete silence from the public gallery.

The trial, which began on April 30, was told that Bridger was a "fantasist" who had "a clear interest in child pornography and in child murder cases".

The defendant himself had told police he was an SAS-trained "mercenary" but was in fact a former abattoir worker and a failed London fireman - who quit the service after six months because he could not reach the required training standard.

Elwen Evans QC, prosecuting, said Bridger murdered five-year-old April and then played a "cruel game" in an attempt to cover his tracks.

She told the jury: "He claimed to know the rugged terrain around Machynlleth well, and that's been a significant feature in police determining the size, scope and scale in their search for April."

Miss Evans also told the jury about the kind of obscene material which had been found on Bridger's laptop following his arrest.

[Related: Mark Bridger was an 'evil fantasist' and a 'control freak']

Police found numerous indecent images on the computer, as well as pictures of young female murder victims, including Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, the victims of Soham killer Ian Huntley.

Bridger also had images of local young Machynlleth girls, including April and her half-sisters, aged 13 and 16.

"We say his interest in pornography, young girls, rape and murder cases is all too relevant and you may see it as the key to understanding what he did and why he did what he did," Miss Evans told them.

On the day April was abducted, Bridger had viewed online photographs of a young girl and a pornographic cartoon depicting, Miss Evans said, the apparent rape of a physically restrained and visibly distressed girl.

[Related: The frantic search to find April Jones in numbers]

The same day, his girlfriend had finished with him and he had tried to ask three different women out on Facebook.

It is not known what Bridger said to April to entice her into his car. The court heard she was "happy and smiling" when she was seen climbing into a Land Rover Discovery.

Miss Evans told the jury Bridger's claim that April died in a car accident was lie to cover up his "sexual" motivation for snatching the five-year-old.

Early in the trial, the jury was taken to visit Bridger's cottage, Mount Pleasant, where April's blood and small bone fragments were found.

Those microscopic pieces of April's skull were all that was found, despite the largest search in British policing history and a police investigation which cost in the region of £8.5 million.

[Related: Finding out what Mark Bridger really did to April Jones 'could take years']

Bridger is a "cold-hearted murderer" who "spun a web of lies and half-truths" to try to get away with his "truly horrific" crime, prosecutors said after the verdict.

In a statement, Ed Beltrami, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Wales, said: "We welcome today's verdict, which brings to a close a difficult and challenging prosecution.

[Related: Mark Bridger 'watched brutal slasher film rape scene 'not long before' April was murdered]

"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 has refused to take responsibility for what he did to April and has stopped at nothing to try and cover his tracks.

"Despite his best efforts to evade justice, he has been brought to account by a highly professional investigation by Dyfed Powys Police, coupled with the diligence and hard work of the prosecution team. Working together, we have been able to comprehensively dismantle Bridger's version of events and expose him as a violent, cold-hearted murderer and a calculated liar.

[Related: Mark Bridger: Loner lifestyle of the 'drifter' who killed April]

"I would like to record our thanks to everyone who supported the prosecution of this case. Everyone who has provided a statement to police or given evidence in court has played their part in today's verdict.

"At the very heart of this case are April's family, who have been through - and continue to go through - an ordeal of appalling magnitude. They have conducted themselves with a humbling dignity throughout.

"We can only hope that today's verdict will be of some help to them as they continue to try and come to terms with the loss of April."