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13/12/01 - You'll die in jail
By HARRY ARNOLD and ADRIAN SHAW
The Mirror
THE loner who kidnapped and murdered schoolgirl Sarah
Payne was condemned yesterday to die behind bars. Jailing
Roy Whiting for life, the judge said in his case that
would mean life. Mr Justice Curtis branded the 42-year-old
"every parent's and grandparent's nightmare"
and "an absolute menace to every little girl".
There were shouts of "yes" from members of
the Payne family when the verdicts were announced. They
were delivered after the jury of nine men and three
women had deliberated for more than three days after
the 19-day trial.
Sarah's parents Michael, 33, and Sara, 32, clung to
each other and sobbed in relief that the killer of their
"little princess" had finally been locked
up. The young forewoman of the jury burst into tears
when it was revealed that Whiting had abducted a little
girl once before.
And an older woman on the panel buried her head in her
hands as the court heard how Whiting kidnapped the nine-year-old,
threatened her with a knife and just as he did with
Sarah forced her to strip naked and indecently assaulted
her.
The jury at Lewes Crown Court had heard that Whiting
kidnapped and murdered Sarah after she ran away from
her brothers Lee and Luke, now 14 and 13, in a cornfield
at Kingston Gorse, West Sussex, 18 months ago. Also
in court were the parents and son of Whiting's first
victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Like the Paynes, they attended every day of the trial
and held hands as poker-faced Whiting was jailed. He
showed no emotion as he was convicted, sitting with
his arms folded and looking disinterested.
But the first victim's father lowered his head and sobbed,
while Whiting's white-haired mother Pamela sat stock-still
with pain etched on her pale face. The verdict and sentencing
came after a tense and dramatic wait when the jury appeared
to he deadlocked.
At 2pm the judge asked for the jurors to be brought
back into court to advise them that he could accept
a majority verdict of at least 10-2. But the jury replied
with a note asking for "10 more minutes".
The judge convened the court and revealed that he had
told them to take as long as they wished. The judge
left the packed court and Whiting, of Littlehampton,
was taken down to the cells to await his fate.
Then, at 2.45pm, the jury indicated it had reached a
verdict. The judge warned anyone involved in an "emotional
outburst" would be removed. Jailing Whiting for
life, the judge said he had kidnapped Sarah to fulfil
his "abnormal sexual desires".
He described as "ludicrous" Whiting's claim
that he bought his white van for his job as a mechanic
and builder. The judge detailed the various implements
that Whiting had in the van, including a knife, rope,
cushion and baby oil and plastic ties looped like handcuffs.
He added: "I am quite satisfied that you indecently
assaulted her in it. One of the many articles had a
small trace of semen on it. As we all know, you stripped
Sarah naked and you suffocated her and buried her and
got rid of her clothes you are indeed an evil man.
"What is more you diet the same thing in early
1995, but that girl you mercifully did not kill."
The judge referred to a psychiatric report produced
after the first attack which described him as a "high
risk" repeat offender.
He added that Whiting had claimed to police when first
quizzed over Sarah's disappearance that he had "learned
his lesson" from his previous offence. The judge
said: "Nothing could be further from the truth."
Describing the murder as "truly appalling"
he added: "You are every parent's and every grandparent's
nightmare come true. You are and will remain an absolute
menace to any little girl.
"It's one of the rare cases where I shall recommend
to the appropriate authorities that you be kept in prison
for the rest of your life so that no further child is
added to the list of your victims and the lives of a
third family are not ruined."
As Whiting, turned to deacend the stone steps Sarah's
grandfather, Terry, spat and shouted: "I hope you
rot." The Payne family were staying at his home
when Sarah was snatched. Yesterday, a fellow inmate
of Whiting's revealed how the killer showed no remorse
in jail, "bragging he would "get away with
it" and "slaughter the police" in court.
Whiting never admitted to his prison neighbour that
he had murdered Sarah but said he had stood over the
naked girl's body in its shallow grave. The inmate said:
"He said 'what would you say if I told you I knew
where the child was buried?'. I asked him how he knew.
He said a friend had told him."
He said other prisoners abused Whiting, calling him
"Baby Killer". Whiting also constantly asked
his prison neighbour about DNA. "He was very keen
to know about it," said the inmate, Last night,
Sarah's dad Michael revealed on a special BBC Crimewatch
show that he first thing he does each morning is look
at a photograph of his daughter.
He also said he felt less of a man because he was unable
to stop Sarah being killed. He said: "This man
came into my family and took one away and there's not
a damn thing I can do about it." |
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