Pub chef convicted of murder after undercover police investigation jailed for life
Watch Robert Murphy's report
A pub chef who was convicted of murdering his former partner following an undercover policing investigation has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years.
Darren Osment, 41, killed mother-of-four Claire Holland, 32, who was last seen leaving a pub in Bristol on the evening of 6 June 2012.
Her body has never been recovered.
The case was treated as a missing person’s inquiry for seven years until Osment rang 999 while in Exeter, Devon, in July 2019, claiming he had arranged for Ms Holland to be killed.
He was arrested and interviewed under caution for two days, then released under investigation after denying any involvement in Ms Holland’s disappearance.
In 2020, Avon and Somerset Police decided to send in an undercover officer – who went by the name Paddy O’Hara – to befriend Osment, then living in Patchway, Bristol, and find out what happened to Ms Holland.
The undercover investigation, between December 2020 and July 2022, saw the officer pose as someone involved in the criminal underworld with links to organised crime.
His conversations with Osment were covertly recorded, amounting to more than 1,200 hours of footage – including repeated confessions relating to Ms Holland from the father-of-two.
Osment was arrested and charged with Ms Holland’s murder in August 2022.
He pleaded not guilty to the offence but was convicted by a jury at Bristol Crown Court by a majority verdict last week.
'You robbed her of the future she deserved'
On Wednesday afternoon, in a televised hearing, Mrs Justice Cutts sentenced Osment to life and ordered him to serve a minimum of 20 years in prison.
“Claire Holland was aged 32 at the time of her death in June 2012,” she told Osment.
“She was a warm and vivacious person who was deeply loved. She had experienced difficulties in her early life but in 2012 was, in the words of her mother, starting a new chapter.
“She had a new flat, had reengaged with her family and was engaging in a programme to stop drinking.
“She was happy and optimistic about the future. A fresh start was ahead of her. You robbed her of that fresh start. You robbed her of the future she deserved.”
The judge added: “You left her family with the agony of not knowing where she was or what happened. As you started to move on with your life, you left her family in limbo.”
“You were haunted by it and seeking to relieve the burden of what you did, you made confessions over the years to six people.”
Claire Holland's family tells ITV News their daughter's killer is "worse than a monster"
In victim personal statements read to the court, the family of Ms Holland appealed to Osment to reveal where her remains were so they could lay her to rest.
Ms Holland’s daughter, Rosie Holland-Hall, told Osment: “You will never understand the harm you have caused to me.
“I will never forgive you for what you have done and the damage you have caused.”
Osment and Ms Holland, described as alcoholics at the time, met in 2008 and had a child two years later.
During the trial, Andrew Langdon KC told the jury that Osment blamed Ms Holland for their child being taken into care and said he killed her in a drunken argument hours after she was last seen in June 2012.
Mr Langdon said it was believed that Osment had strangled Ms Holland before disposing of her body in water, though Osment himself knew “the manner of her death and how her body was disposed of”.
In footage from the undercover investigation, Osment is shown suggesting to Mr O’Hara that he had killed Ms Holland, cut her body up with a knife, and dumped her remains in water.
One clip captured the moment Osment told the officer: “Mate, I trust you like a f****** brother … it’s just, I don’t f****** cast my mind back to what I had to f******, do you know what I mean, it’s not f****** pleasant bro. It was f****** horrible.”
He tells him in another clip: “And then, I just mate, just I, you know, it’s what it is, but it’s all, all done, done and dusted, all the f****** work, clothes burnt outside, f****** everything’s gone, everything’s gone.”
Osment then appears to suggest he weighted down Ms Holland’s remains so they would not come “floating back”.
Mr Langdon told jurors how Osment, of Chessel Drive, Patchway, had confessed to six different people including a former girlfriend, her brother, friends, the 999 call handler, Mr O’Hara and a prison inmate after his arrest.
The prisoner reported: “During the argument, Claire struck Darren. In retaliation, Darren Osment grabbed Claire by the throat and took her down to the floor.
“Darren spoke and gestured that he pushed Claire down to the floor, on her neck and gestured with his hands that he was choking her. Darren said, ‘By the time I’d let go, she was gone’.”
'The pain of not having her in our lives is indescribable'
The family of Claire Holland spoke outside Bristol Crown Court after her ex-partner Darren Osment was jailed for a minimum of 20 years for her murder.
Her sister, Sarah Holland, described how the mother-of-four’s disappearance had caused “tremendous sadness, confusion and worry” to the family.
She said: “The pain of not having her in our lives is indescribable. We will forever miss her happy, warm, and fun personality. She loved her children wholeheartedly, and they will always love her.
“During the trial we have been sickened to hear how Claire’s life was cruelly taken from us. Her death was totally senseless and completely unjustified. We have listened to weeks of painful evidence.
“Despite all this, we still do not know the full details of what happened to Claire. Her body has never been found.
“The person who took her life has continued to cause us agony. We continue to suffer because of this failure to tell us about Claire’s final moments, and where she went.
“We have been denied this basic justice. Her death is indefensible. We have been haunted by our not being able to see her one final time. She deserves to be given a place to rest, where we can honour and respect her memory.”
Following the jury’s verdict, the actions of the undercover officer were praised.
Detective Superintendent Darren Hannant, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: “The undercover officer put his safety at risk to expose Osment’s offending.
Darren Hannant, senior investigating officer, described Darren Osment as a “violent misogynistic murderer”.
He added: “Osment’s continual refusal to be honest about what he did means we’re still unable to provide clarity to Claire’s family about what happened to her body after he killed her.
“I sincerely hope in time Osment does explain fully what he did because Claire’s family and friends need to know. Sadly, knowing what we do about Osment, I find it hard to believe he is capable of doing the decent thing.
“We can only hope the principles of Helen’s Law will prevail, which ensures killers who do not disclose the location of the remains of any victim can have this used against them when it comes to applying for parole.”
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