Mark Bridger leaving Mold Crown Court after he was given a whole life sentence for the abduction and murder of schoolgirl April Jones, yesterday.

Paedophile Mark Bridger yesterday joined a group of notorious criminals who have been given whole life sentences for their horrific crimes.

Bridger, 47, kidnapped five-year-old April Jones, before sexually abusing her, murdering her and then disposing of her body.

Last night her parents Paul, 41, and Coral, 43, were coming to terms with the fact that Bridger may never reveal what he did with their daughter.

A heartbreaking victim impact statement from April’s mother also revealed how she will always “live with the guilt” of letting April, who had cerebral palsy, play out the night Bridger snatched her away from her loving family.

Bridger, a former slaughterhouse worker, was given a whole life sentence by trial judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams after he was convicted by a jury at Mold Crown Court of April’s abduction and murder and of perverting the course of justice by unlawfully disposing, destroying or concealing her body.

Only 47 other criminals in the UK have been handed such sentences.

Mother lives with guilt that she let girl play out when Bridger snatched her

Sentencing Bridger, Mr Justice Griffith Williams said: “There is no doubt in my mind that you are a paedophile, who has for some time harboured sexual and morbid fantasies about young girls.”

April Jones. Photos: AP

He said Bridger abducted April for a “sexual purpose” after he had been jilted by his girlfriend and then murdered the schoolgirl and disposed of her body to “hide the evidence of your sexual abuse of her”.

The judge said: “How you disposed of her body must remain a mystery. It will serve no purpose for me to speculate as to what happened but all the indications are that you burnt at least a part of her in the wood burner.”

Police believe Bridger dismembered little April’s body before dumping the body parts at various locations in the hills, rivers and forests surrounding his home in Cienws, mid-Wales, after traces of her blood were found all over his rented cottage.

The judge continued: “Without the knowledge of what happened to April, her parents will probably never come to terms with their grievous loss, described so eloquently in the impact statement. It is to be hoped, for their sakes... and for the sakes of all those who mourn April, that the verdicts will bring some measure of closure.

“Your offences were aggravated by their premeditation and by the destruction of at least a part of her body and the concealment of the rest. It is also a relevant consideration that you not only abducted April with a sexual motive but then sexually abused her in some way.”

In her statement, read to the court by Elwen Evans QC, prosecuting, Coral Jones said: “Words alone cannot describe how we are feeling or how we manage to function on a daily basis, and I would never, ever want any other family to go through what we are and will go through for the rest of our lives.

“I will never forget the night of October 1, 2012. I will live with the guilt of letting her go out to play on the estate that night for the rest of my life,” April’s mother said.