Mark Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering April Jones, as well as concealing her body.
The 47-year-old has been described as a ‘violent, cold-hearted murderer’ who ‘relentlessly spun a web of lies and half-truths’.
He was convicted after a five-week trial, with jurors requiring just over four hours to return unanimous guilty verdicts at Mold crown court.
April’s parents were in the public gallery to watch Bridger, from Ceinws, be led away from the dock. The five-year-old’s body has still never been found.
We look back at what was the biggest search operation in British policing and the trial itself.
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- BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE. Handout Dyfed-Powys Police image of Mark Bridger at council offices. Former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering five year old April Jones. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday May 30, 2013. See PA story COURTS April. Photo credit should read: Dyfed-Powys Police/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
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- Mark Bridger leaves Mold Crown Court after he was given a whole life sentence for the abduction and murder of schoolgirl April Jones. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday May 30, 2013. See PA story COURTS April. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire
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- Undated file handout photo issued by Dyfed-Powys Police of April Jones. Former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones.: Dyfed-Powys Police/PA Wire
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- Mark Bridger and dog (Picture: PA)
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- Courts artist impression dated 22/5/2013 by Elizabeth Cook of Mark Bridger, 47, of Ceinws, mid-Wales and Defence QC Brendan Kelly during his testimony at Mold Crown Court. Former slaughterhouse worker Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones. Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire
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- Mark Bridger in what was once his Facebook profile picture (Picture: PA)
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- Undated handout photo issued by Dyfed Powys Police of the bathroom in the home of Mark Bridger. Former slaughterhouse worker Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones.: Dyfed-Powys Police/PA Wire
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- Dyfed-Powys Police undated handout photo of the burnt knife recovered from the property in Ceinws. Former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones. Dyfed-Powys Police/PA Wire
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- April Jones was abducted by Mark Bridger while she played outside her house last October (Picture: PA)
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- Undated handout Dyfed-Powys Police imgae of former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger in custody. Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones.: Dyfed-Powys Police/PA Wire
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- Undated handout Dyfed-Powys Police imgae of former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger in custody. Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones. Dyfed-Powys Police/PA Wire
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- Handout Dyfed-Powys Police image of April Jones in Leisure Centre on October 1, 2012. Former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering the schoolgirl.: Dyfed-Powys Police/PA Wire
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- Handout Dyfed-Powys Police image of April Jones in Leisure Centre on October 1, 2012. Former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering the schoolgirl. Dyfed-Powys Police/PA Wire
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- File photo dated 7/10/2012 of Police at the home of Mark Bridger, as the hunt for missing April Jones continues around Machynlleth, mid Wales. Former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones. : Tim Ireland/PA Wire
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- File photo dated 2/10/2012 of the house where April Jones lives in Machynlleth. Former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones. Rui Vieira/PA Wire
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- File photo dated 5/10/2012 of Search and rescue teams continuing their search on the River Dyfi in Machynlleth, Mid Wales, for missing five-year-old April Jones. Former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones. Peter Byrne/PA Wire
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- Dyfed-Powys Police undated handout photo of the Land Rover used by 46-year-old Mark Bridger. Former slaughterhouse worker Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones. Dyfed-Powys Police/PA Wire
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- Undated photo of the birth certificate of former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger who has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones. Philip Toscano/PA Wire
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- Mark Bridger has been told he will never be released (Picture: PA)
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- A police team search land for April Jones as part of the biggest search in British policing history (Picture: Tim Ireland/PA Wire)
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- Undated handout photo issued by Dyfed Powys Police of the lounge in the home of Mark Bridger. Former slaughterhouse worker Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones. Dyfed-Powys Police/PA Wire
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- File photo dated 16/5/2013 of DC Fred Hunter from the media crime unit holding a bike belonging to April Jones’ friend, (who cannot be named), in Mold, north Wales, as the jury has today viewed a car belonging to murder suspect Mark Bridger and the bike that was being ridden by schoolgirl April Jones on the night she went missing. Former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones. Lynne Cameron/PA Wire
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