The man accused of murdering schoolgirl Tia Sharp photographed the 12-year-old’s naked body after he suffocated her, a jury heard yesterday. Stuart Hazell, the boyfriend of Tia’s grandmother, then hid her body in bin bags in the loft, where it was found a week later. The Old Bailey heard that in the weeks before her death Hazell, 37, who was obsessed with paedophile websites, had repeatedly filmed Tia as she slept – and on one occasion as she rubbed cream on her legs while in her underwear.
Tia’s mother Natalie Sharp wept and rushed from the courtroom as footage of her daughter was played.
Later the jury was shown a picture of Tia naked, which the prosecution alleges was taken by Hazell after he killed her.
Relatives of Tia and two jurors sobbed after the image was shown to the court.
Hazell, of New Addington, south London, denies murder.
Outlining the case against him, Mr Edis said Tia, who regularly stayed at Hazell’s house, had suffered a ‘sudden and violent’ death.
Pathologists believe she was suffocated but cannot be certain as the body had started to decompose by the time it was found, he said.
While on remand at Belmarsh Prison, Hazell told guards that Tia had broken her neck accidentally falling down the stairs.
But pathologists were unable to find any evidence of a broken neck or skull fracture consistent with dying from a fall, Mr Edis said.
‘What we know is that after she died he put her in the loft,’ he said.
‘That’s not what you would normally do with someone who has suffered an accident.’
When Tia was reported missing, Hazell told her family and police that he had seen her leaving his house to meet a friend.
Relatives, friends and neighbours carried out a huge search.
During the week-long hunt, Tia’s mother went to stay at Hazell’s house, unaware that her daughter’s body was hidden upstairs.
Hazell even made a TV appeal for Tia’s safe return and criticised those who suggested he had something to do with her disappearance.
In an interview Hazell gave to ITV he appealed for Tia’s safe return, insisted she was like his own child, described her as ‘a golden angel’ and said he did not know what had happened to her.
Mr Edis added: ‘He was playing the role of a grieving granddad who wanted nothing more than for her to come home.
‘He, of course, knew perfectly well where she was but wasn’t telling anyone.’
A day after the interview, police – who had twice searched Hazell’s home but found nothing – carried out a third search and discovered Tia’s body.
They found her clothes along with Hazell’s sweatshirt and broken glasses in a bin bag in the loft.
Her clothes bore traces of Hazell’s DNA, and Tia’s blood was found on his belt.
Police also found 11 pictures of Tia sleeping and three videos of her asleep – part of a collection of videos and photographs recovered from two memory cards hidden in Hazell’s house.
Mr Edis said footage of Tia rubbing cream into her legs was filmed secretly by Hazell.
Officers found images of other girls being abused and discovered Hazell made regular internet searches on a site popular with paedophiles, the court heard.
And during the week Tia’s body was in his loft, he viewed an incest website.
