Details have emerged of Mark Bridger's early life in Croydon and Sutton as he starts his life sentence.

The 47-year-old of Ceinws, Powys, was yesterday found guilty of abducting and murdering five-year-old April Jones in a sexually motivated attack.

Bridger, who claimed he had accidentally run over April near her home and could not remember where he had put her body, was jailed for life with no chance of parole by a judge who called him a "pathological liar" and "a paedophile."

Bridger was born in November 1965 in Carshalton, to parents Graham, a City of London police officer and his wife Pamela.

Raised in Croydon he attended John Ruskin High School where he gained seven GCSEs, before attending Croydon College where he failed to complete a diploma in engineering.

Keen to follow his father into the emergency services, at age 19 Bridger began training with the London Fire Brigade, but he dropped out after a few months stating "he could not come up to the standards at the training centre" in his resignation letter.

But the truth was he was in trouble with the police and had been caught carrying a firearm in a botched attempt to rob a post office.

He was put on probation for the two years and around the same time became a father for the first time.

Bridger, who has at least six children, did not stay in Croydon to look after his son, and after an argument with his parents he left the area for north Wales.

Friends of Bridger said he fled to Wales after getting in to trouble with a Croydon gang.

A friend told the Sun gang bosses had wanted to "hurt" bridger after he crossed them, adding: "He was a bad lad and said he was being chased by a gang in Croydon.

"He would say he couldn't go back there and came to Machynlleth to start a new life. He never spoke about his family, to him it was in the past."

Did you know Mark Bridger during his youth? Contact the newsdesk on 020 8722 6353 or email hmcw@london.newsquest.co.uk.