Danielle's uncle jailed for murder

A CONVICTED sex offender with a "predatory" obsession with teenage girls was yesterday jailed for life for the murder of his own niece.

Fitness fanatic Stuart Campbell, 44, who ensnared his victims with promises of a glamour modelling career, murdered 15-year-old British schoolgirl Danielle Jones and hid her body.

Yesterday, after Campbell was found guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court, Danielle's parents appealed to their brother-in-law to reveal where her body was.

The jury took more than seven hours to convict Campbell, a builder, of Grays, Essex, of killing Danielle after an 11-week trial. He was also convicted of her kidnap.

What the jurors did not know was that Campbell had a lengthy criminal record and had been given a suspended prison sentence for holding a 14-year-old girl without authority in 1989.

Campbell, a father-of-two who is married to Linda Campbell's sister Debbie, also deceived his own family about his evil past.

Detective chief superintendent Steve Reynolds, head of Essex CID, described him as a "predator".

Passing sentence, trial Judge Mr Justice McKinnon told him: "You have been a blatantly deceitful and thoroughly dishonest smooth operator over many years."

He added: "You have done a truly terrible thing that has caused widespread horror and disgust."

Campbell, who was dressed in a sombre blue suit, showed no emotion as the verdict was returned.

He calmly picked up a file before being led out of the dock to begin his sentence.

Danielle's parents hugged each other in the public gallery as the jury of seven women and five men returned the guilty verdicts.

Police believe Campbell lured his unsuspecting niece into a relationship and killed her when she tried to break it off.

Passing sentence, the judge told him: "What precisely happened may never be known. Now you are the only one who knows what actually happened and thus far you have kept your cards very close to your chest.

"You clearly had a close relationship with the deceased, as she obviously is. How close only you now know.

"You were regularly in touch with her until June 4, 2001. You were obsessed by her, that is obvious.

"On Monday June 18, 2001, you, for reasons known only to you, decided to kidnap her. You desperately wanted to photograph her.

"Your particular perversions and interests are focused on schoolgirls in the 14-15 age bracket.

"You are quite unable to control or check your impulses in this area.

"You have been a blatantly deceitful and thoroughly dishonest smooth operator over many years ... oblivious of your effect on others by creeping into the affections of underage girls.

"Having kidnapped your niece, probably on the pretext of taking her to school, you took her to your home. There you murdered her and somehow disposed of her body without trace."

The judge said Campbell's undoing had been the analysis of mobile phone records by experts which showed that his phone and Danielle's had been together near his home for about 30 hours after she vanished.

He said: "I can confidently say there is not a shred of mitigation in this case.

"You are no stranger to violence and started in crime at a young age."

The judge said he would have imposed a life sentence if the jury had found Campbell guilty of manslaughter instead of murder.

He imposed a concurrent 10-year sentence for the kidnap conviction.