When Tia Sharp went missing and Stuart Hazell was interviewed by ITV, many viewers were absolutely convinced that Hazell was responsible for Tia's disappearance. The television interview only confirmed the deep suspicions and grave doubts many already had about this ramshackle man they'd seen fleetingly on the nightly news. As far as the police could deduce, Hazell was almost certainly the last person to speak to Tia before she disappeared. It appeared, even at the time, that he was quite probably the last person to see her.
And yet, mystifyingly, Stuart Hazell was not treated as a suspect by the police when the investigation began. A trio of factors in this bleak and harrowing case clouded the obvious. These factors all played a pivotal part in prolonging and complicating the investigation. What should have been an open and shut case became something more complex and strange. In the book that follows we will see how trusted Stuart Hazell was by the Sharp family and how was able to develop a close bond with Tia Sharp. This book will also attempt to deduce what happened the fateful and tragic night that Tia lost her life and then somehow make sense of the bizarre situation that Stuart Hazell, thanks to some very basic police mistakes, found himself trapped in. The Tia Sharp case was unbearably sad and at times perplexing. We will attempt to see what, if any, lessons this tragic case ultimately left us with.
