Arrests and apology over Tia Sharp case
Police probing the disappearance of schoolgirl Tia Sharp arrest her grandmother on suspicion of murder, and apologise for not discovering the body at the grandmother’s house sooner.
The Metropolitan Police force has issued a statement in which they say they have apologised to Tia Sharp’s mother for not finding the body sooner.
They say it is “clear that human error delayed the discovery of the body”.
“An early review has been conducted and it is now clear that human error delayed the discovery of the body within the house. We have apologised to Tia’s mother that our procedures did not lead to the discovery of the body on this search.”
The police describe four “scene examinations” that were conducted and that during the second visit on August 5 the area of the house where the body was discovered had been searched too:
“The second visit was a full search of the property with the consent of the occupiers. This was conducted on 5 August over a period of two hours. All parts of the premises were searched including the location where a body was discovered, five days later, on Friday 10 August.
“On behalf of the Metropolitan Police I apologise for the distress and concern this delay will have caused. A continuing review and examination of our search processes will be undertaken to ensure such a failing is not repeated.”
Officers discovered a body at the home of Tia’s grandmother Christine Sharp in New Addington, near Croydon, south London, yesterday.
Hours later, 37-year-old Stuart Hazell, the grandmother’s partner, was arrested on suspicion of murder.
The 12-year-old girl, who was reported missing last Friday, was last seen alive at the property.
Police had searched the property three times in the past week before it was discovered after a fourth search.
The first search was of Tia’s bedroom after she was reported missing, then on Sunday a specialist team searched the property.
On Wednesday another team searched the home, this time using sniffer dogs.
But it was on Friday – a week after her disappearance – the body was found.
Commander Neil Basu, the police chief responsible for south-east London, said: “Clearly there will be many questions about the investigation into Tia’s disappearance and I want to take this opportunity to clarify some of the speculation.
“When police investigate cases as difficult and challenging as this, it is important that we do not just focus on one line of inquiry.
“What we now need to establish is how long the body had been in the place where it was found.
“This will be subject of the ongoing investigation and it would be wrong to jump to any conclusions until all the facts have been established.”
The body has yet to be identified and a post-mortem is expected to take place in the next few days.
They have not revealed where the body was eventually found, but officers were seen taking a ladder into the property and leaving with a dark holdall.
Candles and flowers have been left outside the home where the body was found.
One message read: “Rest in peace Tia. Justice will be served.”
Another read: “Tia Sharp, beautiful angel, taken too soon, our thoughts are with all of you.”