• Stuart Hazell alleged to have made the remark on first day of the hunt
• 'I could have been only feet from her body...to know that is heartbreaking'
• Badly decomposed body found wrapped in a black bed sheet

Victim: Schoolgirl Tia Sharp whose body was found at her grandmother's house

The father of tragic schoolgirl Tia Sharp was touched on the shoulder and told to 'be strong' by the man accused of her murder, it was claimed today.
Stuart Hazell's alleged words of sympathy were spoken just yards from where her body was found and a day into the hunt for the 12-year-old.
Her paternal grandfather Stephen Carter, revealed that his son Steven, Tia's biological father, had met 37-year-old Hazell outside the house he shared with Tia's grandmother Christine Sharp.
He said: 'Hazell put his hand on my son's shoulder and said 'be strong, Steve'. My son needs time to grieve, I feel deeply sorry for him.'
Steven confirmed he had spoken to Hazell that day. 'Now it seems so much harder because I could only have been feet away from her body, ' he said. 'To know that is heartbreaking.'
Tia's badly decomposed body was found wrapped in a black sheet inside a plastic bag in the loft of the house in New Addington, south London, more than a week after she went missing.
She could only be identified by her dental records and more tests are being carried out to determine how she died after a post mortem failed to establish the cause of death.
Hazell appeared at the Old Bailey last week via video link from Belmarsh Prison accused of her murder.

 

Grieving: Tia's father Steven and a friend. He says he is 'praying for vengeance' after being 'robbed' of his daughter

Mr Carter, 52, who lives in Northampton, last saw his granddaughter three years ago just after Tia's ninth birthday at the terraced home where her body was found.
He told the Daily Mirror: 'I will always keep in my mind her face and words when I last saw her.
'It was her birthday and we gave her a new outfit. Her smile lit up the room and she put her arms around me and told me that she loved me.
“I spent hours with her that day at the house and it’s how I will always remember her.'

Weeping: Tia's grandfather Stephen Carter at the shrine outside the house in south London where her body was discovered

'In loving memory of a Dear Daughter': Flowers from Tia Sharp's mother Natalie read: 'Baby girl, we love you, we miss you, always Mum, Dad, Boys'

Tia’s 30-year-old father said he was 'praying for vengeance' over his daughter's death after seeing the hundreds of flowers, cards and teddy bears laid in tribute to Tia outside the house.

Accused: Stuart Hazell appeared via a video link from prison charged with Tia's murder

Steven told the Croydon Advertiser: 'My little girl will never get to her 16th, 18th, or 21st birthday. We have been made to suffer. I’m so upset and angry. I’m feeling pain while everyone else is grieving.
'All I keep doing is crying and praying for vengeance.'
He laid a yellow rose and a pair of purple angel wings at the makeshift shrine. 'That little girl was loved by everyone,' he said.
'We have all been robbed. Her heart, her soul, everything she gave to this world is gone, and now we just have the memories.'
'Her heart, her soul, everything she gave to this world is gone, and now we just have the memories.'
Mrs Sharp was arrested on suspicion of murder but bailed by police last Sunday pending further inquiries. Her neighbour, Paul Meehan, 39, is also on police bail on suspicion of assisting an offender.
Tia's disappearance triggered a huge search operation involving more than 100 police officers and many more volunteers.
Scotland Yard admitted that her body was missed during an earlier search due to 'human error' and apologised to her mother Natalie, 31.
A senior officer suggested it may have been moved before a dog trained to detect blood and decomposition eventually raised the alarm.

Court artist sketch of Stuart Hazell, who appeared at the Old Bailey via video-link from Belmarsh prison in south east London

Hazell is the last person said to have seen Tia alive and claimed she had gone to Croydon to buy flip-flops without her Oyster card or mobile phone promising to be home by 6pm on August 3.
A serious case review has been launched into Tia’s death by Merton Council, which has responsibility for Mitcham, south London, where Tia lived with her mother.