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The man found guilty of abducting and murdering five-year-old April Jones in a sexually motivated attack must spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Mark Bridger, 47, of Ceinws, Powys, had claimed he accidentally run April over near her Machynlleth home and could not recall where he had put her body.

But the jury at Mold Crown Court unanimously convicted him in a case lasting four-and-a-half weeks.

During sentencing, the judge called Bridger a "pathological liar".

He said there was no doubt in his mind that Bridger was "a paedophile" and referred to the "foul pornography" on his computer.

Bridger was "on the prowl" and "set out to find a little girl" to abuse for a sexual purpose, he said.

April went missing on 1 October 2012 near her Machynlleth home sparking the biggest search in UK police history. 

Earlier, the jury took four hours and six minutes to convict Bridger, watched by April's parents Paul, 41, and 43-year-old Coral,

April's mother looked tearful but both parents maintained a dignified silence throughout the verdicts, standing side by side.

After the jury and public gallery had been cleared following the verdicts, prosecutors, investigating police officers and court staff were visibly emotional.

Before sentencing a statement was read out in court on behalf of April’s mother, which said she would never forget the night they allowed their daughter out to play with her friend, something they had done hundreds of times before.

"We will never see her bring home her first boyfriend and Paul will never walk her down the aisle," it said.

"How will we ever get over it?"

Bridger's defence lawyer later admitted there was "little if any mitigation" to offer and accepted, given his age, his client would spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Bridger was also found guilty of intending to pervert the the course of justice.

It also emerged that Bridger told a prison priest he had dumped April's body in a river.

The evidence was the subject of legal arguments during the trial. The jury was absent during the discussion and the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to submit the evidence.

Bridger told chaplain Father Barry O'Sullivan what he had done while he was held awaiting trial in prison in Manchester.

The court was not told which river was involved but it is thought to be the Dyfi near which Bridger was arrested.

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British forces are detaining 80 to 90 Afghan nationals in a holding facility at Camp Bastion, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has confirmed.

UK lawyers acting for eight of the men said they had been held for up to 14 months without charge in what could amount to unlawful detention.

They compared it to when the public became aware of Guantanamo Bay and want the UK High Court to free the men.

But Mr Hammond said their release would put British troops at risk.

British forces in Afghanistan are allowed to detain suspects for 96 hours.

However, in "exceptional circumstances" to gather critical intelligence, for example - they can hold them for longer.

UK lawyers acting for eight of the men being detained said their clients were arrested by British soldiers in raids in villages in Helmand and Kandahar provinces and have been held for between eight and 14 months without charge.

But the defence secretary dismissed claims that the UK is operating a secret facility in Afghanistan as "patently absurd".

Mr Hammond told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Parliament had been informed by this government and the previous one about the detention of Afghan suspects.

He declined to say how long some had been held and said the precise number of detainees fluctuated.

General Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defence, said the detentions were illegal and inhumane.

"The prisoners must be handed over to the Afghan authorities," he said. "After their handover to us, they will be dealt with according to our judicial laws, and the agreements reached with the international community."

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