Sarah Payne is one of the most high profile murder victims in Britain in modern times. She was born on 13 October 1992 in Walton-on-Thames, the third child of Michael and Sara Payne .

On 1 July 2000, three months before what would have been her eighth birthday, Sarah disappeared while playing in a field with her siblings near her grandparents' home near Littlehampton in West Sussex. Her family made many appeals on TV for their daughter's safe return and there were several possible sightings of her. Hopes that Sarah would be found alive were dashed on 17 July 2000 when a girl's body was found dumped in a field off the A29 near Pulborough , some 20 miles from where Sarah vanished. Within 24 hours the body had been identified as Sarah's and a murder inquiry began.

Sarah's parents were convinced that a paedophile had been responsible for her death, so they began a campaign with the News of the World newspaper for a so-called Sarah's Law which would allow families to know if a convicted child sex offender was living in their area. The law has still not been passed but Sarah's family are still urging the government to do so.

The Payne family's suspicion that Sarah had been murdered by a paedophile was proved correct on 12 December 2001, when 42-year-old Roy Whiting was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. After the guilty verdict was delivered by the jury, the judge revealed that Whiting had a previous conviction for abducting and molesting an eight-year-old girl in 1995. He could have received a life sentence for that crime, but was sentenced to four years and got out after just two years. The trial judge branded Whiting 'every parent's nightmare' and recommended that he should never be freed.

11 months after Whiting was found guilty, he received a 50-year tariff which was set by Home Secretary David Blunkett. This ruling meant that Whiting would never be released from prison unless he lived to be at least 92 years old. But the system was declared illegal within 48 hours of the tariff being imposed, and 18 months later Whiting lodged an appeal to have his minimum sentence reduced by the Lord Chief Justice.

Meanwhile, the trauma of Sarah Payne's death led to her parents separating in the summer of 2003 - three years after the murder. Just a few months after the Paynes separated, Sarah's mother Sara gave birth to her fifth child - a daughter called Ellie Jane Louise Payne. Michael and Sara Payne are still living apart but are hopeful of living back together again in the future.