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Murder of Sarah Payne - Part Two · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Where the jury was presented with testimonies from multiple witnesses.
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  The principal witnesses included Sarah Paine's eldest brother, who reported
• 0:10
  seeing a scruffy looking man with yellowish teeth driving through
• 0:16
  Kingston Gorse on the evening of Sarah Paine's disappearance. However,
• 0:21
  Lee Paine did not identify Whiting. During the identity parade,
• 0:26
  a member of the public discovered one of Paine's shoes
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  in a rural lane, and forensic analysis revealed fibers from
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  Whiting's van on the shoe, which was the only piece
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  of Pain's clothing recovered. Additionally, a strand of blonde hair
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  found on a T shirt in Whiting's van underwent DNA testing,
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  which indicated a one in a billion likelihood that it
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  belonged to anyone other than Pain. The jury also heard
• 0:56
  from two motorists who remembered seeing a white van parked
• 1:00
  at the roadside and departing from a track on the
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  evening of July first, two thousand, close to where Paine's
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  body was eventually located on December twelfth, two thousand one,
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  following a four week trial presided over by mister Justice
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  Curtis and a jury. Whiting was found guilty of the
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  abduction and murder of pain, receiving a life sentence. The
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  trial judge remarked that this was an exceptional case, warranting
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  a life sentence that would indeed mean life. After Whiting's conviction,
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  his prior criminal history was disclosed, which had been kept
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  from both the jury and the media. Authorities were concerned
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  that revealing his previous convictions could compromise the trial. If convicted,
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  Whiting might argue that he was judged based on evidence
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  from an earlier offense, potentially leading to an appeal and
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  his release. The revelation of Whiting as a repeat offender
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  reignited discussions regarding the government's stance on public access to
• 2:07
  the sex offender registry. However, the day following Whiting's conviction,
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  the Home Office stated that such a system would be
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  unworkable as it could drive offenders underground, complicating police efforts
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  to monitor them and increasing the risk of vigilante violence.
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  This case is also significant for its extensive application of
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  forensic science sentencing. On November twenty fourth, two thousand two,
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  Home Secretary David Blunkett mandated that Roy Whiting must serve
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  a minimum of fifty years in prison, rendering him ineligible
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  for parole until twenty fifty one, at which point he
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  would be at least ninety two years old. This decision
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  effectively aligned with the trial judge's recommendation for a full
• 3:00
  life tariff. Within forty eight hours of this ruling, both
• 3:04
  the law lords and the European Court of Human Rights
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  ruled in favor of another convicted murderer, Anthony Anderson, who
• 3:14
  was contesting the authority of politicians to determine the duration
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  of imprisonment before parole eligibility for murderers. In June two
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  thousand four, reports emerged indicating that Whiting intended to appeal
• 3:30
  to the Court of Appeal for a reduction of his
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  fifty year minimum sentence. On June ninth, two thy ten,
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  Whiting's appeal led to a High Court judge reducing his
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  minimum sentence by ten years. Whiting's legal representatives contended that
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  the original fifty year tariff was influenced by political considerations,
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  particularly during a period when the government faced significant publican
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  media scrutiny due to a fire fighters strike. Mister Justice
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  Simon noted that under the sentencing guidelines of two thousand
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  and ten, Whiting could have been sentenced to a whole
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  life tariff. Consequently, Whiting is now serving a forty year
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  minimum term, which will keep him incarcerated until at least
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  twenty forty one, when he will be eighty two years old. Sarah,
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  the mother of the victim Paine, was present during the
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  proceedings and expressed her disappointment with the ruling, asserting that
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  life should mean life Roy Whiting. On March fourth, nineteen
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  ninety five, an eight year old girl was kidnapped and
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  sexually assaulted in the Langley Green vicinity of Crawley. Several
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  weeks later, Whiting was apprehended after an acquaintance of his
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  came forward, having learned that the abductor's vehicle was a
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  red Ford Sierra, which corresponded with the description of a
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  car Whiting had recently sold. The police traced the vehicle
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  to its new owner, where a knife was discovered concealed
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  within it. On June twenty third, nineteen ninety five, Whiting
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  pleaded guilty to charges of abduction and in decent assault,
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  resulting in a four year prison sentence. Although the maximum
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  penalty for such offenses could be life imprisonment. He received
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  a reduced sentence due to his early admission of guilt. However,
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  a psychiatrist who evaluated Whiting post conviction indicated a high
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  likelihood of re offending upon his release. Whiting was released
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  from incarceration in November nineteen ninety seven, having completed two
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  years and five months of his four year sentence. He
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  was among the first individuals in Britain to be placed
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  on them Sex Offenders Register. His release was delayed by
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  an additional five months due to his refusal to engage
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  in a rehabilitation program for sex offenders. Minimum sentence. On
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  November twenty four, two thousand two, it was reported that
• 6:17
  Home Secretary David Blankett had mandated a minimum sentence of
• 6:21
  fifty years for Whiting, ensuring that he would remain in