Payne 'to be Victims' Commissioner'

12 April 2012

Sara Payne, who has campaigned for child safety since the murder of her daughter nine years ago, is to be appointed the Government's first Victims' Commissioner, it has been reported.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is reported to have approved the appointment, which is due to be officially unveiled on Monday.

Mr Brown announced plans for a Commissioner to represent victims' interests in his speech to Labour's party conference last September, in which he described the move as "a landmark reform in our justice system" designed to "put victims first".

The Prime Minister said then: "In consultation with Victim Support we will create an independent commissioner who will stand up for victims, witnesses and families - the people the courts and police exist to serve."

On Sundy, the News of the World reported an unnamed "senior Downing Street source" as saying that Mrs Payne - who was awarded an MBE in the New Year's honours - has been chosen to advise the Government on drawing up policies to help victims of crime.

She will have a desk at the Ministry of Justice, work three days a week and be paid as a consultant, the paper said.

Mrs Payne's eight-year-old daughter Sarah was murdered in 2000 by Roy Whiting, who was on the sex offenders' register after receiving a four-year sentence for an earlier sexual assault on a young girl.

Following her daughter's death, Mrs Payne backed a News of the World campaign for a "Sarah's law" which would grant parents controlled access to the sex offenders' register to check whether people who pose a risk to children live in their area.

Last year, a pilot scheme was launched in four police areas allowing mothers concerned about new partners to ask for checks to be run on their previous convictions.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "We are making an announcement on Monday. We will be making it to Parliament first."

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