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20/07/96 - My if only nightmare
Jan Disley
The Mirror
The parents of murdered schoolgirl Sophie Hook spoke yesterday
of the string of "if onlys" that will haunt
them for the rest of their lives.
Seven-year-old Sophie was raped and strangled by Howard
Hughes who grabbed her from a tent in her uncle's garden
where she was sleeping overnight with her older sister
and cousin.
Mum Julie, 36, said: "If only I hadn't agreed
the girls could stay over.
"If only the tent hadn't been bought.
"If only it had been raining.
"They will go on and on for ever."
Julie and husband Chris, 38, from Great Budworth, Cheshire,
were speaking publicly for the first time since 31-year-old
Hughes was given three life sentences at Chester Crown
Court on Thursday. The couple - with their children
Jemma, ten, Joseph, six, and toddler Ellie - are preparing
to face the first anniversary of Sophie's death on July
30.
They will have the support of Julie's sister Fiona
Jones and Fiona's husband Danny, whose home Sophie was
staying at when she was murdered.
"Our families have always been close and will
continue to be," said Julie. "Anniversaries
are painful, but so is every other day.
"And we will no doubt cope like we cope with every
other day...with difficulty and deep sadness.
"Our 'if onlys' will no doubt come flooding back
with force - not that they ever go away."
Supply teacher Julie spoke movingly about the daughter
she lost."Sophie enriched all our lives,"
she said. "She was bright, vivacious, full of fun,
mischievous, caring and very loving. That is how we
remember her.
"Naturally all the children have been affected
by the loss of Sophie, each in their own different way.
They are, however, all able to talk freely about Sophie
and continue to include her in whatever they do. 'She
would choose this colour mum,' declares one.
" 'These are Sophie's favourite biscuits',"
remembers another.
"And again: 'Do you think Sophie would like my
shoes, mummy?' "
Hughes, from Colwyn Bay in North Wales, sexually assaulted
other children before killing Sophie and throwing her
body in the sea at Llandudno.
The judge said he must never be freed.
Chris and Julie, struggling with a pain "beyond
words," cling to the belief that their daughter
did not know of her suffering.
"It is this belief that keeps us going through
all our darkest moments," said Julie.
Advertising manager Chris said they constantly asked
themselves: ""Why Sophie? Why us?""
Hughes, a known child-sex pervert, was a "timebomb
waiting to go off."
"Unfortunately for us, and particularly for Sophie,
she was the trigger of that timebomb," said Chris.
"It didn't have to be like that."
He said the Home Office's proposals for a paedophile
register should be put in place and extended - "for
example, by allowing authorities to display posters
of offenders in the community.
"That is currently being proposed and done in
the States.
"I don't see any reason why we should not mimic it." |
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