GUILTY UK - Tia Sharp, 12, New Addington, London, 3 Aug 2012 #4

[opalsqueak63]

you can never say too much when you have gone through the same kind of tragedy.

you more than anybody will be able to advise on how people should be feeling in the days after somebody that young goes missing, i have no idea how they would feel and i hope i never do, you had no choice but to feel that way.

also you can give people an idea of what goes on after somebody has been reported missing, we know what goes on outside a house but not inside.

i don't want you to have to relive that experience at all and wouldn't even ask you to.

no doubt some people on here are going to ask how your sister died etc, that will be up to you to tell them, as for other things i doubt you will wanted to be reminded of, well only you can decide that.

and to all the people on this forum, please be respectful if asking questions, think first before you ask.

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you for your very kind reply.

We don't know how or when my sis died because of the condition of her body. She did have an injury. Eventually it was decided accidental death but it took a year for that inquest result. I believe she was murdered/killed, maybe accidentally, or injured and left there. The police had suspicions that she was murdered, but they never told us or the press that at the time. We found out at the inquest. If the evidence is not there, it's not there.

The similarity with Tia is that the result could be the same - not possible to identify time and cause of death. I wonder if the Tia culprit(s) watched a lot of CSI type programmes on the TV and knew that this might be the case if only the body was undiscovered long enough?

In missing children cases, the police use the media very strategically. They don't release information for no reason. Sometimes they hold back facts given to the media for a very good reason. Or they may throw "facts" out there iyswim. I can't say any more because I wouldn't want to help a future murderer out! They asked us at what stage we wanted media involvement, at what level and what the risks were to us. They discouraged us from having a press conference and told us why. They asked us not to talk to the press directly even if we were followed about and hounded. The police know what they are doing - honestly they do, although the impression from the outside may be different.

The other thing is that the print and broadcast media, including the tabloids, co-operate fully with the police on missing child cases like this and do not, as a rule, break ranks and go against the media strategy of the police on a particular case. They co-operate with them.

I believe the police had suspicions about Tia's case from the very start. To let people speak uncontrolled and "act out" for the media allows the police to observe their behaviour and responses. So much will come out later on about this case that we couldn't possibly have known when we are trying to put the pieces together, but the police know. They just have to get the evidence.

I am a Press Officer myself so I know how the media works in general as well.

All this is just my opinion of-course.
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Thank you for your knid words.

 

[Paulette]

laserdisc10
Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,015
Quote:
Originally Posted by soozieqtips
Yeah, sounds like it.



Not to forget: ' She wanted it - she got it' ... perhaps revealing that SH believed she 'got a lot/too much', 'got her own way' ?

Seems reasonable to suggest that when NS was with SH, Tia was there as a baby and toddler -- so lots of attention devoted to the child, with SH relegated to the wings

NS moved on to have two more children with Niles and when SH took up with CS -- there was Tia again, who CS described as her 'life'

I've known step-parents who professed to dote on their step-children when others were around. In private though, it was a completely different story. SH was nothing, really - just a floating bed-mate destined to play second-fiddle to other people's children. No job, no money, no home of his own, no prospects and no children of his own that he doted upon or for whom he took responsibility (it's said he has a daughter whom he's rarely, if ever, spent time with)He had to play genial step-grandfather. Playing the role convincingly provided him a portion of his roof and meals. Who knows though what festering resentment was brewing beneath. Maybe he would have liked to move elsewhere, but CS refused to be parted from her grandchildren? Without CS, SH would be back to living rough. And CS's extended family provided SH structure, support and semblance of belongingEven though SH is not exactly the norm as males go, it must still have been difficult to reconcile being subservient to an older, strong female and cast as a grandad figure at 37 and with some form of mid-life watershed impending

Wonder how he really felt about playing baby-sitter to a budding teen who'd stolen his limelight for the past decade or so and whom his partner regarded as her 'life' - a child whose spending money very probably exceeded his own?

I love this post - you should send it to the prosecutor.

 

[opalsqueak63]

Hi opalsqueak - so sorry to hear about your sister. Losing someone so suddenly is a shock you never get over. I hope you've found some peace in your life since then.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about Tia. It's interesting what you said about how the police would normally dictate events after a possible kidnap, like the posters and t-shirts etc. But Tia's family seemed a little too organised and suspiciously quick off the mark. The candles, t-shirts and posters seem to have taken priority over getting their stories straight, and that's what's going to be their undoing, all the discrepancies.

A member noted earlier that SH had not addressed the 'kidnapper' at any point during his interview, instead, speaking directly to Tia, who as we know now, was already dead. Although Gran said she knew Tia was not staying away through choice, and the mum said "we think she's been taken" - not one of them asked the 'kidnapper' to let her go.

Also, I still find it strange that NS insisted they had an 'independent' witness who had seen her leave the house. It's like she was told to say it by Gran or DS, to ensure that it was known she definitely left the house.

I was thinking that if a cause of death can't be established, then we might never know what went on that day. I'm sure Hazell is thanking his lucky stars that the decomposition was pretty bad, as without concrete evidence of what actually happened to Tia, he can carry on telling more lies.

Thank you for this. Too organised and quick off the mark, and frankly, too contrived. I agree with every word of your post. I only would add that I believe that there is other involvement that just SH.

 

[Dion]

SH was pretty emotional (and drunk) the day he was picked up by the police. I hope that they took advantage of that and finally managed to get some truth out of him.

It can't have been easy living with Tia's body in the roof and having the ups and downs of him thinking that he may have got away with it, only to realize that the police were not giving up on searching the house.

They took lots of stuff away from the house, let's hope that they have enough evidence from that to piece together what actually took place, even if Tia's body is not in the best condition to determine exact cause of death.

 

[opalsqueak63]

Hey Dion - My impression of SH is that he is not a complicated person. However, he must possess a certain amount of animal cunning in order to have survived being in prison and being homeless etc. My guess is that he would be extremely loyal to people he considered to be his true friends and would take the fall for them. The police would not question him on such a serious charge while he was drunk.

 

[soozieqtips]

Thank you for this. Too organised and quick off the mark, and frankly, too contrived. I agree with every word of your post. I only would add that I believe that there is other involvement that just SH.

Yes, I do too, as do some other posters. I actually believe that CS, NS, DN and DS were all aware of what happened, and that the reason NS was kept away from the cameras was because she couldn't be trusted to act 'normal'. They chose DS who was possibly the most articulate of them all. CS backed SH's fictional account of the funfair visit, and I think after she'd found out what happened, she was the one who organised what they were going to do next.

I'm not sure if I think anyone else was directly involved in her death apart from Hazell, but I do think that once Tia was dead, everyone was told what had happened, and told how they had to act etc. Gran 'runs' the family, I think - and Natalie would have been very influenced by her, and possibly the uncle (her brother) too.

 

[Dion]

Opalsqueak - So sorry about your sister. Thank you for sharing your experience - that has to be the worst thing that could happen to a family.

I'm so pleased that you have joined the forum, your posts are very informative.

 

[soozieqtips]

It can't have been easy living with Tia's body in the roof and having the ups and downs of him thinking that he may have got away with it, only to realize that the police were not giving up on searching the house.

Exactly. How he kept his cool during the searches is beyond me. Can you imagine the fear and tension you'd feel if the police were just about to search the loft where you knew you'd hidden the body? And the euphoria of realising they'd missed it? That's assuming it was actually in the loft on the Sunday when they said they searched it.

 

[soozieqtips]

"The grandmother of murdered schoolgirl Tia Sharp has been warned not to attend her funeral over concerns for her safety. Christine Sharp, 46, is currently on police bail following her arrest over the 12-year-old’s death.

And she has already been warned by police not to return to New Addington in South London after Tia’s body was found wrapped in a bed sheet in her loft there".

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tia-sharp-murder-grandmother-christine-1270036

It's the Mirror so don't know how much is fact or fiction, but I suppose she'd be at risk from a backlash if people think she was in on it. Wouldn't it be a private funeral though? Given how much publicity there's been so far, I would have thought that no one would know the location except for the family.

 

[katydid23]

New here BTW, hi everyone!

I also find it odd that SH did not pretend that TS had left the house with her phone and bag. It would not have been difficult to have hidden them with the body. It would have made his story much more convincing. I can only think that he was rushed and that after dealing with the body, and realising he'd left out her phone and bag, he had no further opportunity to hide them, before somebody had already seen them.

It does seem as though he was interrupted in being able to cover up the crime properly, as though all he had time to do was put the body in the loft before CS came home. From then on he must have known that he had no chance, but clung on to a tiny bit of hope.

First of all. :welcome: :fireworks: to WS !


I agree with much of what you said in the above post. But I don't agree that he should have placed her cell phone with her body. Because if he had said the cell was taken by her they would have traced it's pinging locations and known that she never left the home.

 

[Dion]

Hey Dion - My impression of SH is that he is not a complicated person. However, he must possess a certain amount of animal cunning in order to have survived being in prison and being homeless etc. My guess is that he would be extremely loyal to people he considered to be his true friends and would take the fall for them. The police would not question him on such a serious charge while he was drunk.

So if he were to tell them all kinds of things when/if he was blabbering on while drunk, they wouldn't listen

I realize that they couldn't couldn't take a statement, due to his being somewhat out of his mind, but couldn't they question him later on, when sober, about what he divulged (if anything).

btw, I could see him maybe taking the fall for something like stolen goods, but the death of a child ...

 

[katydid23]

I am not convinced that Granny was involved, even in the cover up. She had a car and she does not seem to be as stupid as her mate is. Why would she have called in a missing child report with a body in her loft?

I can see that lunk doing so, because he is an idiot and has no car and no sense whatsoever. But I think Granny would have moved her first, imo.

 

[opalsqueak63]

Yes, I do too, as do some other posters. I actually believe that CS, NS, DN and DS were all aware of what happened, and that the reason NS was kept away from the cameras was because she couldn't be trusted to act 'normal'. They chose DS who was possibly the most articulate of them all. CS backed SH's fictional account of the funfair visit, and I think after she'd found out what happened, she was the one who organised what they were going to do next.

I'm not sure if I think anyone else was directly involved in her death apart from Hazell, but I do think that once Tia was dead, everyone was told what had happened, and told how they had to act etc. Gran 'runs' the family, I think - and Natalie would have been very influenced by her, and possibly the uncle (her brother) too.

After a lot of hard work, research and reasoning on this, that is my EXACT conclusion too. And if I may say so, if we are correct, it is despicable beyond belief.

 

[Dion]

"The grandmother of murdered schoolgirl Tia Sharp has been warned not to attend her funeral over concerns for her safety. Christine Sharp, 46, is currently on police bail following her arrest over the 12-year-old’s death.

And she has already been warned by police not to return to New Addington in South London after Tia’s body was found wrapped in a bed sheet in her loft there".

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tia-sharp-murder-grandmother-christine-1270036

It's the Mirror so don't know how much is fact or fiction, but I suppose she'd be at risk from a backlash if people think she was in on it. Wouldn't it be a private funeral though? Given how much publicity there's been so far, I would have thought that no one would know the location except for the family.

Most people under the circumstances would opt for a private funeral, but this family is not quite normal.

 

[soozieqtips]

I am not convinced that Granny was involved, even in the cover up. She had a car and she does not seem to be as stupid as her mate is. Why would she have called in a missing child report with a body in her loft?

I can see that lunk doing so, because he is an idiot and has no car and no sense whatsoever. But I think Granny would have moved her first, imo.

What about if the body wasn't in the loft at the time? Maybe Tia's body was hidden somewhere else until Gran knew the police had finished searching the house. Don't ask me how it was moved back though with all the police and media present.

By the way, 'that lunk' - suits him perfectly.

 

[Dion]

I am not convinced that Granny was involved, even in the cover up. She had a car and she does not seem to be as stupid as her mate is. Why would she have called in a missing child report with a body in her loft?

I can see that lunk doing so, because he is an idiot and has no car and no sense whatsoever. But I think Granny would have moved her first, imo.

Granny is not that smart - she chose to be with that idiot in the first place (her daughters ex b/f) , so she has questionable judgement.

 

[opalsqueak63]

So if he were to tell them all kinds of things when/if he was blabbering on while drunk, they wouldn't listen You're not wrong

I realize that they couldn't couldn't take a statement, due to his being somewhat out of his mind, but couldn't they question him later on, when sober, about what he divulged (if anything).

Fair point - we can only hope. There are rigid rules about what the police can do since PACE came in.

btw, I could see him maybe taking the fall for something like stolen goods, but the death of a child ...

.True. He might try and take the total fall to protect others if he is going down anyway.

 

[soozieqtips]

Granny is not that smart - she chose to be with that idiot in the first place (her daughters ex b/f) , so she has questionable judgement.

True. Also, reporting Tia missing after such a short time wasn't smart at all, given that we've seen how little importance any of them placed on her welfare. Everything they did was too quick, too planned and too rehearsed.

SH had already mouthed off to his dad that he'd walked Tia to the tram stop. I think he must have been drunk at the time and didn't remember what he'd said. I thought it was a bit hypocritical to say his dad 'liked a drink' and got everything the wrong way round... when he was probably drunk himself when he said that!

 

[opalsqueak63]

Opalsqueak - So sorry about your sister. Thank you for sharing your experience - that has to be the worst thing that could happen to a family.

I'm so pleased that you have joined the forum, your posts are very informative.

Thank you Dion. x

 

[opalsqueak63]

Thanks for the chat everyone. There is one other thing I meant to say earlier which is sort of obvious - when my sis went missing, one of the things they did very early on was to search her room and take all her things like diaries, cards, letters, school notebooks, photographs, memory boxes - everything - to get a picture of her life and what she was like. (They were all returned to us). They also traced all her friends and friends of our family and spoke to them -all of them. I guess police will also be able to access all Tia's social networking activity as well.
Goodnight and thanks for talking to me.