sarah payne

The murder of Sarah Payne refers to the murder of Sarah Evelyn Isobel Payne (13 October 1991 – c. 1 July 2000) by Roy William Whiting (born 26 January 1959)[4][5][6] that occurred in July 2000. The subsequent investigation became a high profile murder case in the United Kingdom. Following his conviction, Whiting was imprisoned and is currently being held in the maximum security Wakefield prison, West Yorkshire.

Born in Horsham, West Sussex, England, Roy Whiting was the second of three children born to George and Pamela Whiting, who divorced during the 1970s. He had an older brother, Peter, and a younger sister, Gillian.

Whiting attended Ifield Community College and left in 1975 with no academic qualifications and over the next few years found himself employed in several different jobs, including doing deliveries for the local Co-operative store and working as a car mechanic and paintsprayer at a local garage. In June 1986 he married Linda Booker in Ifield, West Sussex, who became pregnant the same year. They separated in April 1987, just before the birth of their son, divorcing in 1990.

Whiting was also involved in banger racing during the late 1980s, but abandoned his interest in the sport due to a lack of success
The trial
By 6 February 2001, Sussex Police had enough evidence to press charges against Whiting and appeared at Lewes Crown Court on charges of abduction and murder. Whiting pleaded not guilty to all charges and was remanded in custody, until 14 November 2001.

On 14 November 2001 at Lewes Crown Court, the jury heard from several witnesses. The key witnesses included Payne's oldest brother who had seen a 'scruffy-looking man with yellowish teeth' drive Whiting had not been selected in an identity parade.One of Payne's shoes was found by a member of the public in a country lane and forensic tests had found fibres from Whiting's van on the shoe. This was the only item of Payne's clothing to be recovered. A strand of blonde hair on a T-shirt was found in Whiting's van. DNA test established there was a one-in-a-billion chance of it belonging to anyone other than the Payne.

On 12 December 2001, after a four week trial, Whiting was convicted of the abduction and murder of Payne and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The trial judge recommended a whole life tariff.

After Whiting was convicted his previous convictions were revealed. There were renewed calls for the government to allow controlled public access to the sex offender's register, although the Home Office commented the day after Whiting's conviction that such a system would be unworkable and run the risk of driving pedophiles "underground" as well as putting them in danger of vigilante attacks.

This case is particularly notable for the extensive use of forensic sciences in establishing the prosecution case against Whiting. Twenty forensic experts from a variety of fields were employed during the inquiry, including entomology, pathology, geology, archaeology, environmental profiling and oil/lubricant analysis. It has been estimated that the cost of the investigation involved one thousand personnel and cost more than £2 million.


Attack in prison
On 4 August 2002, Whiting was attacked with a razor by another prisoner while fetching hot water at Wakefield Prison. Convicted killer Rickie Tregaskis (serving life imprisonment with a 20-year recommended minimum for the 1999 murder of a disabled man in Cornwall) was found guilty of carrying out the slashing which left Whiting with a six-inch scar on his right cheek.[21]

In June 2004, Tregaskis received a six-year sentence (to run concurrently alongside his life sentence) after being found guilty on a wounding charge relating to the attack on Roy Whiting. This will not mean that he will have to serve any extra time in prison if the Parole Board decides that he can be freed on life licence