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Sara Payne, the mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne, has spoken about her desire to reshape public perceptions of crime victims. Her daughter, Sarah, was abducted and killed in July 2000 at the age of eight, a crime for which convicted sex offender Roy Whiting was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001.
Choosing a path forward
Speaking to BBC South East, Sara Payne explained that while people face various pressures, they ultimately retain the ability to choose their own path. She emphasized her personal decision to move past the trauma, stating, “I chose not to allow him [Whiting] to live in my head. It had to be her – so I keep Sarah.”
Reflecting on the aftermath of the tragedy, she noted that she does not harbor feelings of anger or aggression. “I don’t want to bring back hanging or any of those things,” she said. “I just want to go forward in a humane way and be human.” She added that while society often holds a specific image of how victims should react, the reality is that shock affects everyone differently.
Legacy and Sarah’s Law
Sara Payne’s comments come ahead of the release of a new BBC podcast series, Sarah Payne: Unforgotten. The series explores the original murder investigation through archive material and new testimony from family members, police, journalists, and politicians. It also details the long campaign for “Sarah’s Law,” which was enacted in 2011.
The legislation allows parents and guardians to formally request information from police regarding whether individuals with access to their children have a history of child sexual offenses. Sara Payne campaigned for the law because she believed it was unjust for sex offenders to remain anonymous after completing their prison sentences. “Victims… don’t get to just move on with their lives,” she explained. “They have to deal with the aftermath.”
Reflecting on the past
More than 25 years after the murder, Sara Payne described the events of that time as a “blur,” noting that she feels somewhat removed from the experience. She recalled that during the intense search for her daughter—which took place near her grandparents’ home in West Sussex—she maintained a hope that Sarah would be watching the news and waiting for her to arrive. “She needed to see that I was coming for her,” she said.
When she eventually learned of her daughter’s death, she described the experience as having the “world taken out from under” her, despite having convinced those around her that Sarah would return home. Describing her daughter as a “special little girl,” she reflected on the loss, saying, “The world’s a sadder place without her. It lost something that day.”
