The mother of murdered five-year-old April Jones today revealed she was almost driven to suicide after her daughter was killed.
Coral Jones said that she would not be alive if it wasn’t for the support she received from her husband and family.
She became suicidal after her daughter April was abducted from their home in Machynlleth, Wales, on October 1, 2012.
Local man Mark Bridger, 47, was jailed for life in May 2013 but has never revealed what he did with the youngster’s body.
Coral Jones (left) revealed she had suicidal thoughts after her daughter was killed while her other daughter (right) said she battled a drink problem
Speaking today on ITV’s Lorraine, Mrs Jones described life after her daughter’s murder.
She revealed the family is still living in the same home and added: ‘My kids and my husband, they had lost a daughter and nearly lost a mum.
‘If it wasn’t for them and my husband, I wouldn’t be here today. It’s been five years, I still suffer depression but not like how I was.’
It comes after April’s sister Jazmin said she doesn’t want the five-year-old’s paedophile killer to reveal what he did with her body.
Miss Jones, now 21, said she believed the information could ‘destroy’ her and her family.
Tragic: Jazmin Jones was 16 when April was abducted from their home in Machynlleth, Wales, on October 1, 2012
Speaking to LBC, she said: ‘I think as a family, finding out what happened and what truly happened that night – I think in a sense that could destroy it, that could destroy us.
‘We all have our own sort of beliefs that this happened or that happened but finding out what really happened, that could wreck anyone, because it’s not something you’d wanna know in such a brutal way as that. I think it’s easier for us not to ever know.’
Miss Jones also recalled her reaction to Bridger being charged for April’s murder.
‘When you lose someone anyway, it’s an emotional time but losing someone like this where you don’t know what’s happened… You haven’t got anything to bury, you haven’t got anything to say goodbye to, your entire world just falls apart.’
Evil: When Bridger was arrested on October 2, 2012, police discovered images of children being sexually assaulted on his computer
April’s blood and 17 fragments of skull were later discovered in his house, in Ceinws near Machynlleth. Pictured: April in her school uniform
The interview comes just a few months after Miss Jones revealed she had battled with alcoholism following her sister’s murder.
In a heartbreaking interview with BBC Wales, she said: ‘I’d go to the pub and drink all night, to the point I didn’t remember who I was (and) I didn’t remember my name.
‘I’d wake up in the morning with cuts and bruises because I’d fallen over the night before.
‘I was getting so drunk all the time I thought if I carried on I was going to kill myself.’
Thankfully, she has managed to kick her addiction and channels her energies campaigning for tougher laws on sex offenders with her mother, Coral, and her father, Paul.
A petition for April’s Law, which calls for search engines to filter out indecent images of children on the internet, will now be debated on March 13 after receiving more than 124,000 signatures.
When Bridger was arrested on October 2, 2012, police discovered images of children being sexually assaulted on his computer.
He later confessed to police that he killed the young girl.
April’s blood and 17 fragments of skull were later discovered in his house, in Ceinws near Machynlleth.
Jazmin (second left) is pictured with her parents, Coral (second right) and Paul (far right), and her brother Harley (centre)
Paul Jones and Coral Jones, the parents of April Jones and her brother Harley, arrive for funeral at St Peter’s Church, Machynlleth
Speaking to LBC, Jazmin Jones said: ‘I think as a family, finding out what happened and what truly happened that night – I think in a sense that could destroy it, that could destroy us.