THE father of murdered schoolgirl Tia Sharp has backed the Prime Minister's clampdown on illegal internet pornography.
Steven Carter, Tia's natural father, said he thought such images "fuelled" his daughter's killer, and that David Cameron's reforms were "long overdue".
Mr Cameron announced measures this week including default blocking of access to online pornography and blacklisting certain "horrific" search terms.
His move followed campaigning by Tia's parents and the family of April Jones. Their killers Stuart Hazell and Mark Bridger, who also grew up in Croydon, each had a history of viewing illegal and violent porn.
Mr Carter, who met Mr Cameron after his announcement in Downing Street, welcomed the plans as a "massive step in the right direction".
Speaking to the Advertiser, he said: "I think if this had been in place before, you might not have fuelled someone like Hazell to go and do what he did.
"I do not believe this is the main cause, but it plays a large part; it fuels them to go on if they think, 'I can get away with this'.
"They should be thinking 'I am going to get into a lot of trouble for this'."
He added: "It is long overdue. It shows that Mr Cameron is looking at it now, not only from a political point of view, but as a parent.
"A lot of it depends on the internet companies, but now he has turned around and said what he thought should be done. Now we are getting the foundations started, which can be built up and worked around to make things safer."
The 31-year-old added that he hoped parents would also become more aware of the dangers of online material and educate their children.
He said: "A lot of parents are not aware of the consequences whereas we are because it has led to Tia's death.
"If parents become more aware and David Cameron does the other part of it, together it will get stronger and safer."
Last week, Merton Council published a report revealing damning details of Tia's upbringing with her mother Natalie Sharp and stepfather David Niles.
Tia, 12, was exposed to drug-taking among her family and was skipping school regularly, the report said.
Mr Carter and Ms Sharp split before Tia was born. He said: "It angers me the state that family were in and I was not notified by social services.
"When I last saw her [Tia] I asked her what happened to the door because she told me the police had done it.
"I raised this with social services the other day – they said it was drug-related.
"With that social services report a lot of questions need to be answered as to what dangers other children are in."
Mr Carter is due to meet Merton Council to discuss the report, he added.
