Tia Sharp: Newspapers target Stuart Hazell, two hours and what the neighbour didn’t see
TIA Sharp: Day 7 of the search for the missing Surrey 12-year-old and she’s no longer front-page news. As before, the newspapers are focusing on Stuart Hazell, Tia’s step-grand-father. Today’s round-up:
Daily Telegraph: “Tia Sharp’s step-grandfather admits ‘shady past’ but denies harming 12-year-old”
That he needs to deny anything in public is a pity. Hazell is stood in the dock in the court of public opinion. He is a witness. He is not under arrest. He is not a suspect – at least he isn’t in the eyes of the law. This is a missing person’s case.
Mr Hazell, who previously dated Tia’s mother Natalie Sharp, 30, and has served two jail sentences for supplying crack cocaine and the possession of a machete, said: “My previous has got nothing to do with it. Everyone’s got a shady past. Did I do anything to Tia? No I bloody didn’t. I’d never think of that. I loved her to bits, she’s like my own daughter. She’s got a lovely home. I can’t work out what’s going on. She’s a happy-go-lucky golden angel. She’s perfect.”
We do not know if any crime has befallen Tia Sharp. But the Daily Record can guess at one that might have:
Drug dealer denies kidnapping missing Tia Sharp
Kidnap? What evidence of that? And what’s that about Stuart Hazell being a drugs dealer? He has form for dealing drugs but why does the Record say he is a drugs dealer, stating that he working in that trade now? Has the Record proof of this? If not, then it’s wrong. Is it libel?
This is Croydon looks past the ghouls at the Daily Express looking for blood and a body. It writes:
The hunt to find missing Tia Sharp continued to focus on New Addington yesterday (Thursday) – with police convinced the missing 12-year-old is somewhere on the estate.
But then we get this:
National newspapers fuelled speculation this week reporting Mr Hazell had told his dad, Keith, he walked Tia to a tram stop last Friday. But it contradicts the account of her walking alone towards Fieldway, and that of her mother, who this week told the Advertiser: “I have an independent witness who says she left on her own walking down the road.”
However, on Wednesday, sniffer dogs searched Mr Hazell’s home before he was led away by two detectives and driven off in a police car.
No. Not sniffer dogs. It was one Alasation dog. The story of the “sniffer dogs” is being repeated in most newspapers. There was one dog. Met Police Sniffer dogs are usually labradors or spaniels. The Express, of course, trumped its rival by stating that the dog was one trained to pick up the scent of death. That is wrong.
This is Croydon adds:
Sniffer dogs and forensic teams have also been drafted in. Amanda Stone, an Oakbank resident, told how her whole house and garage were searched right down to the “airing cupboards”. She added: “They’re turning over all the houses around here.”
So. Only now have sniffer dogs been introduced.
The Daily Mirror looks at Tia’s grandmother:
Tia’s gran quizzed: Missing schoolgirl’s grandma spends two hours giving witness statement to police – Christine Sharp drove to a police station to give a witness statement detailing her movements around the time Tia disappeared.
Your want facts? Here you go:
Mrs Sharp left her home in New Addington yesterday at around midday and drove to a police station in a Smart car. She made no comment as she returned at around 2.30pm carrying two packets of cigarettes and a box of washing powder.
Did she really spend 2 hours giving witness statement, then? Yesterday, the papers said Stuart Hazell had also spent two hours giving police his witness statment. He didn’t. Mr Hazell and his lover were away from their house for around two hours. Factor in the journeys to and from the cop shop and the waiting around and the time spent being “quizzed” is reduced. Unless the police are now selling groceries, the time Christine Sharp spent with police being “quizzed” is further reduced. The idea that someone is being quizzed for two hours paints a picture, doesn’t it. It suggests the police are getting at them. Say the thing took an hour or so and that quiz looks less tricky.
Sky News reports today:
Mr Hazell, who was interviewed by police for more than two hours on Thursday
No. He wasn’t. The two hours accounts for the period of time Mr Hazell was away from his house. Martin Brunt, Sky News’ man on the scene told us that.
The Independent picks up on news that Stuart Hazell is sensitive to his tabloid profile as an emotionless, stoney-faced jailbird:
Last family member to see Tia Sharp before she went missing says he feels people are blaming him for girl’s disappearance
Has Stuart Hazell been monstered in the press?
“I do feel that people are pointing the finger at me because till the other day it was known that I was the last person to see her but I wasn’t,” he told ITN News.
One other person has come forward to give a statement to say that the girl was seen leaving the terrace house on the estate.
“I know deep down in my heart that Tia walked out of my house, she walked out of there, I know damn well she was seen walking down the pathway, she made her way down that track, what happened after that I don’t know.”
The Daily Star shows a man full of emotion:
EX-DRUG DEALER STUART HAZELL IN TEARFUL PLEA
(Although the Daily Record says he is still a drugs dealer.)
Stuart also pleaded in front of ITV news cameras: “Tia, come home babes, come home. Come back and eat your dinner.
“I want my £10 [worth] for the garden. I want things back to normal.”
The Express quotes him:
Asked about apparent inconsistencies in his story, he said his father mistakenly told reporters that Hazell had walked Tia to the tram stop instead of saying he picked her up from the tram the previous day. He said: “If I had walked her to the tram stop, I’d have walked her to Croydon. If I had done that none of this would have happened and it would be another lovely day.”
And:
“Tia come down the stairs around about 10.30 or 11. She wanted to get up early. She played the DS (games console) for a while, then had breakfast. She was telling me what she was doing but I didn’t really log it in my head. As I was hoovering she walked past me to go out. She’s been responsible to go to Croydon before. She’s been on trains, buses, on her own before. She said goodbye and I said make sure you’re back by six.”
The Daily Mail:
Mr Hazell said: ‘My dad likes to drink. He’s got good intentions but he’s said everything back to front. I didn’t take her to the tram stop, I met her at the tram stop. It’s not about me it’s about Tia. We have got to get her home. She’s got no problems at all, she’s a happy-go-lucky golden angel. She’s perfect, there’s no arguments, nothing we can think of.’
ALERT! The caring Sun has a fact:
Cops took away evidence from the home last night. One bag was tagged “duvet”.
The Irish Examiner harks back to an infomous case:
Tia hunt calls on expertise of police in Shannon case. That’s Shannon Matthew, the missing girl found stashed under an ‘uncle’s’ bed with her mother’s knowledge.
A police spokesman said: “As is routine, we liaise with all forces that have dealt with similar cases. This case, like the Shannon Matthews case, involved the search for a missing child. This is a missing persons inquiry and we are putting all of our resources into finding her. We would like to make it clear that officers who worked on a particular missing person case in West Yorkshire are not involved in the investigation to find Tia Sharp. This remains a missing person inquiry and we are keeping an open mind about the circumstances of Tia’s disappearance.”
What about the media? Sky News reports:
Are Tia Journalists Guilty Of Intrusion? Grandmother Christine swears at cameramen and reporters who crowded around her as she got into a car near her home – Tensions in Tia Sharp’s family have boiled over as the search for the missing schoolgirl enters its seventh day.
Martin Brunt writes:
Christine Sharp and a friend swore at hordes of cameramen and reporters who crowded around her as she got into a car parked near her home. She almost reversed into a TV camera in the packed street before speeding-off with a blast of her horn and us in pursuit. Thirty yards on, she found her escape blocked by a rubbish truck collecting refuse that had just been searched by police…. For two days this week our cameras and tripods managed to completely block the path that leads to the house. It meant family members and their neighbours had almost to brush past us to get through. When would push turn to shove?
What say the neighbours?
Suzette Ahagan, 38, a neighbour whose eight-year-old daughter used to play with Tia in the street, said: “They used to play out on the roof of that garage there and would sometimes play football.
“You just don’t expect this to happen in your area. I can’t imagine what her parents are going through.”
The stress must be massive.
Carol Hook, who lives two doors down from Tia’s grandmother, said: “I didn’t see Tia walk past that day. She must have gone past very fast. We just hope people come forward with some information. We’re all broken hearted as a community and we hope she is found soon.”
Does Carol Hook spend the day looking out of her front window?
On TV:
If you have any information call the incident room on 020 8721 4005 or call charity Missing People on 116 000 with information.
14240637
Posted: 10th, August 2012 | In: Reviews Comments (6) | TrackBack | Permalink
