Uncle obsessed by teenage girls jailed for life for murder and abduction of Danielle Jones

A convicted sex offender with an obsession for teenage girls was jailed for life yesterday for the murder of Danielle Jones, his 15-year-old niece.

Stuart Campbell, 44, developed a fixation with Danielle and murdered her at his home in Essex after their relationship soured. He hid her body, which has never been recovered.

Danielle vanished while walking to catch a school bus near her home in East Tilbury, Essex, on 18 June last year. Yesterday, a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court found Campbell guilty of kidnapping and murdering her.

After the conviction, police officers disclosed that the builder from Grays, Essex, a fitness fanatic, had a history of sex offending involving teenage girls. He was given a 12-month suspended prison term in 1989 after holding a girl aged 14 at his home and photographing her in a karate suit. Campbell was originally accused of abducting the girl and taking indecent pictures of her but the charge was dropped after he admitted to an offence of taking a child without lawful authority.

In 1976, he was given a four-year jail sentence for robbing a 16-year-old girl in the street.

After the verdict yesterday, Danielle's parents appealed to Campbell, a relative by marriage, to reveal where he had hidden their daughter.

Passing a sentence of life for the murder and a concurrent 10-year sentence for the kidnap conviction, the judge, Mr Justice McKinnon, told Campbell: "You have been a blatantly deceitful and thoroughly dishonest smooth operator over many years ... You have done a truly terrible thing that has caused widespread horror and disgust.

"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 ... Your particular perverted interests focus on schoolgirls in the 14 to 15 age bracket. You are quite unable to control your impulses in this area."

Campbell had tricked teenagers into posing for him, falsely claiming he was a "glamour" model photographer, the jury had been told. Jurors heard from a number of young women who said Campbell had approached them in the street and sometimes persuaded them to return to his home and be photographed in various states of undress.

Since the start of the trial, six more women have contacted police to report that Campbell tried to photograph them when they were teenagers.

The prosecution said Campbell had been fixated with his niece and was probably having an unlawful relationship with her. A pupil at St Clere's School, Stanford-le-Hope, Danielle was seen talking to a man in a blue Transit van shortly after leaving home the day she disappeared. Campbell owned an identical van.

Campbell regularly picked her up from school in his van. He was also said to have sent hundreds of text messages to her and kept a diary chronicling his contact with her.

Police believe Campbell, whom they described as a "predator", killed her when she tried to break off the relationship. The crucial piece of evidence that secured Campbell's conviction was an analysis of mobile phone records that proved his handset and Danielle's had been in the same place near his home for about 30 hours after she had vanished. Police also say Campbell faked two text messages, which he sent from Danielle's phone to his after she disappeared.

A bag containing girl's underwear was found in Campbell's attic. Blood-stained stockings in the bag were matched with DNA from Campbell and Danielle.

The defendant, who chose not to go into the witness box to defend himself during the 11-week trial, became a prime suspect soon after the girl's disappearance. Routine checks quickly showed that Campbell, who lived with his wife, Debbie, had a history of violence and had been obsessed with girls throughout his adult life. His criminal record dates back to his early teens. As well as passing himself off as a photographer, he also downloaded pornographic images of girls from websites with names such as "Young Lolita Beauties".

Campbell has two children and is married to the sister of Danielle's mother, Linda.

The girl's parents had been concerned about the degree of attention Campbell gave their daughter in the last nine months of her life. But they said they were unaware of his disturbing past and were "completely shocked" to learn of his criminal record.

Tony Jones, Danielle's father, said: "We just hope that now [Campbell] has been convicted he might come forward and say 'I would like to tell everyone where Danielle is'."

He added: "It's terrible for someone to be murdered, but for someone in your family to do it is just unbelievable." Mrs Jones said: "We need to find her so that we can lay her to rest and grieve properly".

Police have found no trace of the teenager despite a massive search and investigation. Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Reynolds said Campbell was a "cold, callous individual" who had been "like a predator waiting for Danielle to reach an age of interest to him". Essex Police promised that the force would continue to search for the dead girl and would interviewing Campbell again. Chief Supt Reynolds said the investigation had been the force's largest and most high-profile case, involving almost 1,000 officers and support staff.