MURDERED Sarah Payne's tragic family will come face to face with her killer in court next week for the first time in nine years - as he tries to get out of jail EARLY.
And what's worse, brave mum Sara and her three eldest children are expected to hear High Court judges CUT evil Roy Whiting's 50-year jail term.The serial paedophile, who has never shown any remorse for a crime which shocked the nation, will be appealing against his 2001 sentence on Wednesday next week.
If his lawyers' pleas succeed, as some experts suggest is likely, he could be freed far sooner than anyone ever imagined.
Former car mechanic Whiting stood trial in December that year and was found guilty and sentenced to two life terms - 25 years each for Sarah's murder and abduction to run consecutively.
After his conviction, it emerged that in 1995 he had abducted and sexually assaulted a nine-year-old girl in Crawley, West Sussex. For that crime, Whiting was given a four-year sentence.
GRABBED: Tragic Sarah Payne
After he was sent down at Lewes Crown Court in Sussex, Sara took some comfort from his sentence.
Outside the court she summed up her feelings: "Justice has been done. Sarah can rest in peace now."
But Whiting, 51, who is being held at Wakefield prison in West Yorkshire, has shattered that peace. He claims the tariff set by Mr Blunkett was politically motivated and wants it overturned.
It is understood this argument will form part of the appeal case to try and reduce his sentence. The worst scenario for mum Sara would be if judges rule Whiting's consecutive sentences should instead run concurrently, or at the same time.
If that happens, her daughter's killer could be released within just a few years.
Eight-year-old Sarah was snatched from a Sussex cornfield in July 2000 as she played happily with her brothers and sister.
A huge search was launched and nationwide TV appeals were made but it took 16 days before the little girl's naked body was finally found, buried in a shallow, roadside grave.
Whiting, from Crawley, was quizzed by cops on a number of occasions because he was already on the sex offenders' register.
And after a DNA breakthrough he was charged in February 2001 with Sarah's murder and abduction. The van he used to whisk Sarah away was found, tightly sealed to create a prison cell for his tiny victim.
Sara, 41, won nationwide acclaim after she led the highly-praised For Sarah campaign, backed by the News of the World.
It called for parents to be given controlled access to information about sex offenders who are living in their area.
Sara was appointed Victims' Champion by the government. But last December she was rushed to hospital after suffering a massive stroke.
The mum-of-five underwent two operations to relieve bleeding on her brain but was left partially paralysed down her left side.
After months of physio, battling Sara learned to walk again and she returned home in April, where she has been making a good recovery.
She is determined to attend the High Court for next week's traumatic hearing with her children Lee, 23, Luke 21, and Charlotte, 15, at her side.
I'll see you in court, you rat
By Sara PayneNINE years ago I sat in a crowded court room within spitting distance of the man who murdered my little girl.
The four-week trial had just ended with the judge's words: "Take him down."The monster shuffled round in the dock, approaching the steps to the cell below.
OUR CHAMPION: Sara led For Sarah campaign
How wrong I was...
Because as we approach the ten-year anniversary since Sarah was so cruelly taken from us, I am preparing to confront him once more. Armed with my eldest children, who insist on being in court with me, we will be a family united staring into the face of a child killer.
I've tried to prepare them for the harsh reality that the man who robbed them of their little sister is likely to walk free many years earlier than they had grown up to believe could be possible.
It is a notion that is hard enough for me to accept. For the children it's inconceivable.
For many years I reassured them that the nightmare was over.
That they could sleep soundly knowing he could never hurt them, their own children or anyone else again.
Suitably punished for committing the most shocking of crimes, he would be banged up for a very, very long news time.
I have never believed in the death penalty, but life should mean life.
In my mind no sentence would be long enough. Even if he served the full 50 years, it would be less than the sentence he has given our family.
So how do I explain to my kids that the man who has already inflicted unimaginable pain in their short lives - who has shown no remorse, who refuses prison treatment and remains a real danger to society - may soon be set free?
I am so proud of my children, how well they coped following their sister's death and how they have grown up to become very special individuals.
They have endured more pain over the years than I care to think about.
But that's only made them stronger and more determined to face any further challenges life throws at them.
Remember that, Roy Whiting.
See you in court.
