Trial
By 6 February 2001, Sussex Police had enough evidence to press charges against Whiting who appeared at Crown Court at Lewes, charged with 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 by. 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 Payne.
On 12 December 2001, after a four week trial before Mr Justice Curtis and a jury, 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 paedophiles "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 investigation involved one thousand personnel and cost more than £2 million.
Read more about this topic: Murder Of Sarah Payne
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