Star comment: Evil Mark Bridger still shows contempt
At every stage and at every opportunity in the tragedy of little April Jones, killer Mark Bridger has acted in a manner calculated to increase the agony of her distraught parents.
After abducting the five-year-old in Machynlleth and murdering her in horrifying circumstances which can only be imagined he then took every step possible to thwart the interests of justice and deny April's family the opportunity, at least, to have her body back.
When the wheels of justice caught up with him he continued to obstruct and deny. The upshot is that the family has been denied any sense of closure and the answer to many of the questions, including what ultimately became of April, has stayed locked in Bridger's sick mind.
Yet now, this man who showed such contempt for the judicial system, is using it to appeal against his whole-life sentence. It is grotesque that he should do so while continuing to cause pain to April's family by refusing to confront the consequences of his crime and continuing to use the "I don't remember" gambit whenever he is pressed to reveal what he did with April's body.
The court process will only serve to increase the pain of the family. Where, in the process, is the justice for April if a killer is given a day grandstanding in court while she, the innocent little girl snatched from near her home while out playing, has become one of the disappeared, and the very man who is responsible is afforded a platform for a sick attempt to win sympathy and a reduction in sentence?
Bridger's planned appeal will cost the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds. This is on top of the search for April which cost millions.
Having taken away so much, and having wrecked the lives of April's family, the minimum requirement of Bridger if he is to be allowed to play his legal games is that he gives something back – little April, a child lost from the world through his evil.
