EXCLUSIVE: Vile fiend had asserted partner’s granddaughter had not returned from a shopping excursion when he had in reality killed her in shocking 2012 homicide Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark
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“If I had any inkling, he would have been deceased,” proclaimed a distraught Christine Bicknell, whose former partner heinously murdered her granddaughter. Stuart Hazell had acted as the loving family figure, escorting Tia Sharp on outings, taking care of her, and providing for her after he took up residence with Christine in 2007.
However, unbeknownst to all, the devil had moved into their residence in Surrey. On August 3, 2012, the brute initiated a spree of horror and savagely murdered and sexually assaulted Tia, only 12 years old. “I can still picture her screaming and I can’t reach her, it devastates me,” said Natalie Sharp, her mother. “I exist in hell every day. There’s no escape, there’s no respite.”
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Prosecutors contended he had subjected her to even more agony and sexual violation after he killed her, due to the marks on Tia’s body evident in a revolting photo Hazell captured after the girl had perished. Nevertheless, the fiend put the family through even greater anguish by maintaining that he didn’t have any knowledge of her whereabouts, and attempted to deceive the country with bogus appeals for her to return home.
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‘Intense smell’
The family’s tribulation commenced on August 3, 2013, when Tia was initially reported as missing. Hazell asserted that Tia had gone shopping in Croydon and had not come back. Then, six days into the family’s ordeal, the unrepentant Hazell donned a T-shirt displaying an image of Tia beneath the word “missing” as he gazed into the camera and stated: “Tia, come home, babe.”
However, he knew precisely where Tia was – lying lifeless in the attic, enfolded in a black bed sheet and a black bag. Christine’s house was searched four times, but during the fifth search, the day Tia’s grandmother started to perceive an “intense” odor in the house, law enforcement made the discovery that no one desired to find in the attic.
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Officers then retrieved memory cards brimming with sickening photographs taken by Hazell, such as the 12-year-old applying moisturizer to her legs, and one particularly harrowing image believed to have been taken after Tia’s death.
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‘I wanted to kill him’
A shameless Hazell was apprehended buying alcohol before being taken into custody, when he was bombarded with insults by the disgusted public who were outraged at his lies. “I prayed that one of those people got their hands on him before the police did,” said Natalie. “I wanted to kill him. She was my baby.”
Speaking to Channel 5, Christine said it hadn’t even occurred to her that he would harm her, because it “didn’t register” with the man he had portrayed as for years. “If I had any inkling, he would have been deceased, Tia would be at home, and I’d be in prison because I’d have stuck a knife in him,” she proclaimed.
‘No doubt you had a sexual interest in Tia’
A dreadful trial commenced on May 8, 2013, where the family were compelled to endure horrific images presented as evidence to convict the murderer. The court heard he had searched pornographic images of girls who wore glasses, which Tia did, and images involving incest. Judge Mr Justice Nicol declared: “There is no doubt that you had cultivated a sexual interest in Tia.”
In the sentencing remarks, he said that Hazell’s internet searches made it “abundantly evident that you were seeking pornographic images of pre‐teen girls”.
A gruesome picture believed to have been taken after Tia’s death revealed blood on her genitalia and on the bed, which corresponded to Tia’s blood. His semen was discovered on the bedding, and a vibrator was located in the drawer of a bedside table in the fiend’s room with Tia’s blood and DNA on it. Dr Fegan‐Earl, who conducted the post-mortem on Tia, said that the mottling which can be observed on portions of the body in the picture was highly indicative of hypostasis, a condition which only arises after death.
‘Changed plea like a coward’
The prosecution attempted to advocate for a lengthier sentence, arguing that her murder encompassed sexual motivation.
“I think it is more probable than not that the doctors are right,” said the judge, referring to the marks on Tia’s body. However, the judge explained that in a criminal case, she had to be certain beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder of Tia involved sexual motivation. “I have decided I cannot.”
Hazell was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder on May 14 with a minimum term of 38 years, meaning he will be 75 years old before he is eligible for parole.
Hazell maintained he was innocent until day five, when he submitted a guilty plea for murder “like a coward after four days of evidence tormenting the family,” according to an expert on the documentary.
‘Serve his time and be hung’
As Hazell was escorted away, shouts from the public gallery branded him a “beast”. An inconsolable Steven Carter, her father, said Hazell should “serve his time and be hung”. Natalie Sharp confirmed she was not content with the length of the sentencing.
Sharing her story last December, her mother insisted he should “rot in hell right where I am”. She described Tia as “my best friend, my confidante, my everything”.
The family said they remained resilient and supported each other, and Natalie has two more children, whom her grandmother assists in looking after. “He won’t defeat us,” Natalie said defiantly.
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In June 2013, the home where Sharp was murdered was razed. In July 2013, her father said he supported a plan to have websites block certain search terms and caution people when they attempt to view illicit content. In November 2013, partly in response to the murders of Sharp and April Jones, the search engines Google and Bing modified their systems to block results from searches aimed at producing child abuse images.
Hazell was last reported to be in Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire where in 2017 it was reported that he had assaulted a fellow inmate there. It was alleged that he picked up a sharpened object and drove it twice into the man’s face, who was believed to have been given urgent treatment in the prison’s medical wing.