Police Missed Tia Sharp's Body Twice In Loft

Scotland Yard apologised to Tia's family after it took a week to discover her body hidden in the loft of her grandmother's home.

The Search Continues For Missing Schoolgirl Tia Sharp
Image: Tia Sharp's body was found in the loft of her grandmother's home
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Police officers twice missed Tia Sharp's body hidden in the loft of her grandmother's home and were only alerted because of the smell of decomposition.

Tia's body was found wrapped in a sheet and layers of plastic in the loft of her grandmother's home on August 10 last year, a week after she went missing.

Detectives had already carried out two searches in the upstairs of Christine Sharp's house, before the 12-year-old was finally found on the third attempt.

A police constable first went into the loft on August 4, climbing up on a stool balanced on a chair.

He said: "I was searching for a missing girl and from what I could see the loft seemed very clear. I thought 'she is not hiding in here'."

The following day a specialist search team came in and one officer said he would have recognised the smell of a decomposing body if it had been apparent.

Police dog
Image: Two police dogs detected something in the loft before Tia's body was found

His colleague said he took about 25 minutes to search the loft, including moving black bags around that the team believed were too light to contain anything significant.

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Later, a search dog was brought to the house in New Addington, south London, and indicated that there was something above one of the bedrooms, but the animal was too large to take into the loft.

On August 10 a detective noticed the smell of decomposition in the house, which Ms Sharp mistakenly thought was cat faeces.

Another dog also indicated that something might be in the loft of the house and Tia's body was then found, wrapped in a sheet and bin bags and sealed with Sellotape.

Detective Constable Daniel Chatfield, who found Tia's body as he and a crime scene manager searched the loft, said: "The loft was extremely confined, it was very hot and quite chaotic, so there were a lot of boxes and bags around the hatch entrances which needed to be moved in order to search further into the loft.

Stuart Hazell
Image: Hazell denied any involvement in Tia's disappearance during the search

"After about 10 minutes my colleague Mr Langley had alerted me to what he believed to be the body of Tia."

In the wake of Tia's death, Scotland Yard apologised to her family that it had taken so long to find her.

During the search for the missing girl, Hazell - a convicted drug dealer - denied abducting her and said she was "like my own daughter".

At the time, he was the partner of Tia's grandmother.

He said at the time: "My previous has got nothing to do with it. Everyone's got a shady past.

"Did I do anything to Tia? No I bloody didn't. I'd never think of that."

Hazell said he and Tia had been alone at the home he shared with Ms Sharp on the Thursday night and Friday morning when she disappeared.

On the Friday he said she left the house at 12.10pm, having previously told him she wanted to buy some new shoes.

She did not take her mobile phone, which was charging, or a travel card and had no bag when she left.

Hazell broke down as he spoke, supported by Tia's uncle David Sharp.

Both wore white "Find Tia" T-shirts and a large picture of the schoolgirl was pinned to the wall behind them.

Hazell said he felt people were "pointing the finger" at him because he had been the last person to see her.

Hazell said: "I know deep down in my heart that Tia walked out of my house.

"I know she was seen walking down the pathway, she made her way down that track. What happened after that. I don't know."

After his arrest, he wrote to his father, Keith Hazell, from prison insisting Tia's death was an accident and he had hidden her body after he panicked.

In the letter, he also begged for forgiveness and said he had considered killing himself while on remand.

He denied any sexual motive, but the Old Bailey heard Hazell searched the internet looking for pornographic pictures of young girls on his phone.

Two memory cards were found in the house which contained "extensive pornography", including some of under-age girls as well as images of Tia and video footage filmed secretly.

Prosecutors also claimed Hazell took a photograph of Tia lying on her bed shortly after she died on August 3.

Forensic evidence suggested a "small, heavy" stain of Tia's blood was found on a belt belonging to Hazell.

Two areas of possible semen stains were also found on the floor of Tia's bedroom - one of which matched Hazell's DNA.