STUART Hazell has admitted the murder of Tia Sharp, having changed his plea at the Old Bailey this morning.
Hazell, 37, had denied killing 12-year-old Tia, whose body was found in the loft of her grandmother's house in The Lindens, New Addington, on August 10 last year.
But, on the fifth day of his trial this morning (Monday) Hazell changed his plea to guilty.
He is due to be sentenced at noon today.
The trial had previously heard evidence that Hazell was "sexually attracted" to Tia and had taken a photo of her dead body for his own gratification.
CCTV images played to the jury showed the schoolgirl and her killer just hours before she was murdered, on a bus and shopping at the Co-Op, in Forestdale.
On Friday, the court had heard Tia's blood was found on a belt belonging to Hazell, with DNA expert Daniel Beaumont saying there was "a one in a billion" chance that the DNA belonged to somebody else.
Hazell claimed Tia's death was caused by his Somalian neighbours, while he also told a prison officer at Belmarsh: "I'm not like Ian Huntley" and that what happened to the schoolgirl was an accident and "nothing sexual".
Hazell showd little obvious emotion as he changed his plea, dressed in a black t-shirt.
There were gasps from the public gallery, while Tia's blood father Steven Carter put his head in his hands and sobbed as the plea change was revealed.
