Roy Whiting, a convicted sex offender, began a life sentence last night for the kidnap and murder of schoolgirl, Sarah Payne (8).
Whiting (42), who denied any involvement in the girl's murder, made no comment as he was convicted at Lewes Crown Court with the recommendation from the trial judge that he should never be released from prison.
Sarah disappeared on July 1st last year while playing hide-and-seek with her brothers and sister near their grandparents' home in Kingston Gorse, West Sussex. Her naked body was discovered in a shallow grave in a field about 20 miles away two weeks later.
Mr Justice Richard Curtis described Whiting as "every parent's and grandparent's nightmare come true" as he sentenced him to life in prison. "You are indeed an evil man," he told Whiting. "You are in no way mentally unwell. You are a glib and cunning liar. You are and will remain an absolute menace to any little girl."
Forensic evidence had linked Whiting to the crime. A single, nine-inch blonde hair belonging to Sarah was found on a red sweatshirt in the back of Whiting's van. Her brother, Lee, said he saw Whiting grin and wave before driving away from the field where the children had been playing.
After nine hours' deliberation, the jury of nine men and three women reached a unanimous guilty verdict in a case that stunned and shocked the public. The court was told shortly after the verdict that Whiting had a previous conviction for serious sexual assault and was one of the first people in Sussex to be put on the Sex Offenders' Register.
The court heard that in 1995, Whiting was convicted of indecently assaulting and kidnapping a nine-year-old girl in Crawley, Sussex, in circumstances remarkably similar to Sarah Payne's abduction.
Whiting was sentenced to four years but while he was in prison he refused all offers of psychiatric treatment. And while the probation service and police considered Whiting a high-risk offender who could possibly turn to murder, he was released on licence in accordance with official practice nearly three years later. Police monitored his movements for several years, but Sussex Police said he "gave no indication" he would re-offend.
Whiting's conviction yesterday is likely to revive interest in the campaign for greater restrictions on the movements of child sex offenders. It is also likely to bring more calls for a so-called "Sarah's law" allowing parents access to information about people in their area suspected or convicted of sexual offences against children.
The campaign, led by the Payne family, began shortly after Sarah's disappearance when the News of the World published the names and photographs of known paedophiles. In part prompted by the campaign, the public response to Sarah's murder spilled over into violence during several weeks last summer as groups of residents in Manchester and Portsmouth targeted the homes of men they suspected of being paedophiles. The government has resisted calls to change the law.
On the steps of Lewes Crown Court, Sarah's parents, Mrs Sara Payne and her husband Michael spoke with painful emotion of their relief at the verdict and their anger that a sex offender was released back into society. "This doesn't make us happy but justice has been done. Sarah can rest in peace now," Mrs Payne said.
She added: "Let's make sure that this stops happening time and time again. People are being let out of prison when everybody concerned knows that this is going to happen again. Why should it be on the policemen's shoulders? This is down to the government to make the decision."
The National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO) called on the government to change the law and introduce indeterminate, reviewable prison sentences for the most serious child sex offenders. NAPO suggested such sentences would mean "predatory" paedophiles would not be released from prison until doctors and psychiatrists agreed they no longer posed a threat to children.
The offenders' rehabilitation charity, the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO), said it supported the recommendation. Its director of policy, Mr Paul Cavadino, insisted the only way children would be protected from dangerous paedophiles was to ensure they were not released from prison if they posed a genuine risk.
"Courts must also make full use of their powers to order extended supervision of offenders who could pose a risk," he said.