The mother of April Jones has backed a campaign calling for a new criminal offence on body desecration as Senedd members were told she longs to lay her daughter to rest in a grave.

Five-year-old April was murdered by Mark Bridger in 2012 and her body has never been found.

The crime sent shock waves across the nation and Bridger was sentenced to life in prison in 2013.

April went missing from outside her home on the Bryn y Gog estate in Machynlleth on 1 October 2012 and despite a major search, her body has never been found.

Plaid Cymru Mid and West Wales MS Cefin Campbell spoke to Coral, April's mum and described their conversation at a Senedd debate on Wednesday, which called for members to back Helen's law part 2, which is about stopping the desecration of bodies by making it an offence.

Mr Campbell said: "April, we will all remember, was five years old when she was abducted and murdered in 2012.

"Her killer is serving a whole-life sentence, but for Coral, the sentence did not bring an end to her suffering.

"As she said, 'My little girl is still missing in the eyes of the law'. The funeral took place, but the coffin was almost empty. Inside were only a few small pieces of bone and some personal items that Coral placed there herself. There was no body to lay to rest, no real goodbye.

"Coral has spoken about avoiding her daughter's grave, because she knows April is not truly there. Instead, she has created a garden at home, a place where she can feel close to her child, because the law cannot give her that peace. She lives every day with the knowledge of what was done to her daughter's body after death, knowledge that continues to haunt her. It shapes her grief and damages her health.

"The offences that her daughter's killer was convicted of do not reflect the true horror of what he did.

"Coral conveyed to me last night that she supports the creation of a new offence of desecrating a body, because while her daughter's killer will never be released, others will be.

"Families should not be forced to live with this added cruelty, unrecognised and unnamed in law. Coral's words are simple and devastating: 'I still want to put April to rest properly'."

Jane Dodds MS spoke at the debate, saying: "I was living not too far away from Machynlleth when five-year-old April Jones was abducted and murdered. I recall the pink ribbons and the pink balloons that there were in Bryn y Gog in Machynlleth, which was incredibly moving to see and devastated the entire nation. Her family not only suffered imaginable loss, but had the added cruelty of knowing that her remains were concealed and desecrated. Withholding a body is not passive, it is a deliberate act of control.”

Senedd members from across political parties agreed the motion, without any objections. Welsh Government minister Julie James said she would write to the UK Government, spelling out the Senedd debate.