Claire Holland: 'hope' remains in finding her missing body, police say

Officers with Avon and Somerset Police say there is still 'hope' in finding the body of Claire Holland, as they continue to work on bringing closure to the 32-year-old's family.

She was last seen alive on the evening of Wednesday 6 June 2012 whilst on a night out - and has never been seen since.

It took seven years for officers to first arrest the 41-year-old man who was yesterday convicted of her murder following an 11-week trial at Bristol Crown Court.

During the trial, the jury heard how he made multiple confessions to her killing - including to an undercover police officer - with witnesses including a former partner and work colleague, to whom the defendant disclosed 'key details of the crime'.

The jury also heard his own words, when calling 999 in July 2019, when he told the operator, “I’m handing myself in…not a good look for me, it’s murder…I took the law into my own hands.”

This led to the police to turn her disappearance into a murder investigation, and in 2020 the decision was made to deploy an undercover officer to befriend the defendant – an operation which lasted 20 months.

Despite denying it once he was arrested, Darren Osment, from Patchway in South Gloucestershire was yesterday found guilty by a majority verdict of her murder.

Officers remain committed in trying to find her body, the location of which has never been revealed.

'We can only hope the principles of Helen's Law prevail'

Officers say they hope the principles of 'Helen's Law' will play a factor when parole is applied for, and means they're holding out hope that one day, the location of her body could be revealed.

This law applies to murderers and paedophiles who hold back information on their victims, and means they could now face longer behind bars, following the campaigning of Helen McCourt's mum, after she was murdered back in 1988 - but the location of her body was never revealed by her killer.

From Avon and Somerset Police, Detective Superintendent Darren Hannant said: “This investigation has been extensive and complex, so it’s important to recognise the efforts of all those involved in achieving this outcome. The undercover officer who put his safety at risk to gather vital information, those who worked tirelessly to support him and review material throughout the operation, and members of the investigation team who have greatly contributed to this outcome.

“We know our investigation and the subsequent court proceedings have had a profound and emotional impact on Claire’s family. They are always in our thoughts. The support and strength they have shown in the very worst of circumstances has been admirable.

“While we don’t expect Darren Osment to tell us where Claire’s body is, we can only hope the principles of Helen’s Law will prevail. This law ensures that criminals who do not disclose the location of the remains of their victim can have this used against them when it comes to applying for parole. We’ll have to wait to see if this materialises, but for the sake of Claire’s family, there remains the hope this will provide them with the information they so desperately need.”

Claire's disappearance sparked a significant police investigation which included a city-wide CCTV trawl, underwater searches, house-to-house enquiries, financial and mobile phone checks, but to no avail.

'A selfish and violent misogynist'

Det Supt Darren Hannant, added: “The evidence we’ve gathered painstakingly over the last four years has proven that Osment is a selfish and violent misogynist who has abused almost everyone he has been close to.

“Our investigation found he’d made repeated confessions to others about his involvement in Claire’s murder, but because of a lack of supporting evidence, a decision was made to obtain authorisation for the deployment of an undercover officer, with the express aim of uncovering the truth about Claire’s disappearance, and in the hope of finding her body.

“The evidence and recorded footage gathered by the officer exposed Osment’s disturbing and hateful character and most importantly, details about the murder that otherwise would have remained unknown.

“This operation required the careful coordination of many aspects of covert policing, alongside the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit and frequent in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, to ensure that tactics were applied to fairly obtain admissible evidence.

“Due to the real risks posed to the officer in the event of the operation being compromised, the investigation team were unaware of the deployment until July 2022, when a decision was made to re-arrest Osment, after which he was charged with Claire’s murder.

“The evidence gathered by the undercover officer, along with the witness evidence, phone data, and missing person investigation records, proved that Osment was responsible for this crime.

“We discovered he had lured Claire to the pub where he worked as a chef in Clifton on the evening of Wednesday 6 June, 2012. He killed her and then disposed of her body, we believe most likely in water. He got rid of the physical evidence, through burning his clothes and disposing of a knife he claimed to have used.

“It was a brutal and pre-meditated crime motivated by his intense hatred of Claire, who he blamed for having their child taken into care.

“The undercover officer put his safety at risk to expose Osment’s offending. He spent hours in his company and in doing so, was able to gather vital evidence to achieve justice for Claire and her family. The covert material showed Osment’s actions on the night, and how the reality of what he had done had affected him. He was both disgusted by, and felt justification for, his actions, and on one occasion was physically sick when he saw a televised police appeal for witnesses.

“I’m in no doubt, Darren Osment is a danger to women, and our communities are a safer place with him behind bars.”

'This was 'foul play' and only Osment had the motive to commit murder'

Ben Samples, Senior District Crown Prosecutor for CPS South West, said: “This was a heinous crime and Claire’s family have endured over a decade of pain as Osment sought to conceal his crimes by weaving a web of deceit, all while cruelly refusing to provide any information which would help locate Claire’s body.

“Murder cases where a body has not yet been recovered are notoriously complex, because it is harder to prove a murder has been committed and there is less evidence to pin the crime to a suspect – so prosecutors must think outside the box.

“Piece by piece, we worked with police to present a compelling case to the jury which made clear that this was ‘foul play’ and that only Osment had the motive to commit murder.

“We know that today’s result won’t bring Claire back, but we hope that knowing justice has been served will bring comfort to her family as they continue to grieve her loss.”

Darren Osment will be sentenced on Wednesday 20 December after he was found guilty of Claire Holland's murder.

You can read more about the case, and the trial which concluded yesterday (December) here: South Gloucestershire man found guilty of killing Claire Holland

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