The Story of Sarah Payne: Every Parent's Nightmare

It is every parent’s worst nightmare come to life. Your children are outside playing, they are with others, and it should be safe. There is no way that an inconceivable atrocity beyond thought could happen to them. Unfortunately, this is what happened to eight-year-old Sarah Payne on the 1st of July 2000. Young Sarah had been playing with her siblings Luke, Lee, and Charlotte in a cornfield close to her grandfather’s house.

According to reports, she had run back towards her grandfather’s house when she was grabbed and forcibly abducted by a man in a white van. Later it would be her brother Lee’s damning testimony about the van and his appearance in court that helped convict the monster that kidnapped and murdered her.

It was Lee that saw him driving past in his white van, manic smile on his face while waving at him. Little did he know that his sister was trapped inside. It was a moment in time that would haunt him for the rest of his life, even though there was nothing he could have done to save his sister.

Sarah’s parents began an immediate and frantic search for their daughter, to no avail. What had supposed to be a joy-filled summer afternoon had turned into a never-ending nightmare.

On July 2nd, the police began an official search for Sarah, desperately looking for the blond-haired, browned eyed girl. Their first stop was to known Paedophile Roy Whiting. While they questioned him, they had no evidence, only suspicion. So, they had to leave after interviewing him. However, later that same day the police returned and arrested Roy Whiting. He had already kidnapped and raped a nine-year-old girl in 1995. Surprisingly, this evidence did not become known until after the trial.

Regrettably, they could not charge him without proper evidence, and he was released on bail after forty-eight hours. Whiting was then arrested on two more occasions before being charged with Sarah’s murder. The police knew who had taken Sarah but did not have the evidence at the time to charge him with suspicion of murder.

On the 31 of July, Whiting was arrested again but was released as there was still insufficient evidence. It wasn't until the 6th of February 2001 that he was finally charged with Sarah’s murder. This was due to the discovery of forensic evidence in the van and from Sarah herself. The van he had purchased only a week before abducting Sarah. It was enough to tie him to the crime and finally charge him with her death.

While there are details of the things that Roy Whiting did to poor Sarah, it is enough here to know that he sexually assaulted her before murdering her via asphyxiation. He dumped her naked body in a shallow grave that was discovered on the 17th of July 2000.

The only positive thing to come from Sarah’s brutal death was ‘Sarah’s Law’. Her mother and father were convinced from nearly the beginning that it must have been a sex offender who had taken her. Their fears proved to be fact when Roy Whiting was convicted of her murder.

It is horrifying to think that at this time, there was no registry for sex offenders. That it was in fact, against the law to leak information on them. While there were laws to protect monsters, who preyed on innocent children, there were none to protect the children they hunted.

Sarah’s Law, also known as the child sex offender disclosure scheme, allows you to ask the police if someone with access to a child has a record of child sex offences. This simple and basic law has saved hundreds of children from the same tragedy that Sarah and her family endured. At least now, it is possible to find out if your children may be coming into contact with a sexual predator.

Sadly, the story did not end there. Michael Payne spiralled into depression due to the loss of his daughter and his inability to protect her while Sara poured her energy into creating Sarah’s Law and stopping what happened to her child from happening to another innocent. Her siblings struggled to cope with what had happened and the events of that time have coloured their lives since.

Over the next fourteen years, Michael descended deeper into depression and began to drink. Michael and Sara’s marriage fell apart and he sank further into alcoholism. At one stage he attacked his brother with a broken bottle and was given a prison sentence. While the judge was sympathetic, he could not excuse the crime. Once released, Michael continued to drink heavily before dying in 2014.

Today, the surviving children are grown and making their way in the world. They have all admitted that the traumatic event of that July day in 2000 had changed their lives irrevocably and that they still suffer from guilt, nightmares, and anxiety. Sara still fights the good fight and struggles with her loss.

As for Roy Whiting, while he is eligible for parole in 2041 at the age of 82, he is not enjoying prison life. He has been attacked multiple times by inmates. These attacks took place in 2002, 2014 and 2018. While I cannot condone violence, it is safe to say, that even the most violent of criminals have families. Those inside prison walls do not take kindly to those who harm children and while it will never bring Sarah back or ease the pain of her death, justice is being served.