April Jones' killer Mark Bridger to get £20,000 legal aid for appeal
The killer of April Jones is to receive £20,000 in legal aid to launch an appeal against his sentence, it was revealed today.
Mark Bridger was convicted of murder in May and ordered to die in prison but is now attempting to overturn his sentence.
April, five, was abducted on the evening of October 1 last year as she played close to her home on the Bryn-y-Gog estate in Machynlleth, Mid-Wales.
Bridger, 48, has already claimed £150,000 in legal aid during his trial and his new bid will increase the bill further.
The killer confessed to her death when he was arrested last October.
Bridger, a father of six, snatched April near her home in Machynlleth on October 1 last year.
The five-year-old's body has never been found.
Hundreds of people lined the streets of the town in September for April's funeral.
At the request of her family, hundreds of the mourners wore pink, April's favourite colour.
Police, friends and family took part in the UK's biggest missing person hunt following her abduction last year.
The search covered 32sq km of land around the town and many volunteer searchers stayed in Machynlleth for weeks helping with the search.
Just 17 tiny pieces of bone, fragments of her skull, were recovered by detectives from the fireplace of Mark Bridger's cottage but no body has ever been found.
The Ministry of Justice said it could not comment on individual cases.
Other criminals serving whole-life terms include Moors Murderer Ian Brady, who tortured and murdered children along with accomplice Myra Hindley, as well as murderer and robber Donald Neilson, known as the Black Panther, who shot and killed three sub-postmasters.
Star comment: Evil Mark Bridger still shows contempt
