Child killer Robert Black found guilty of murder

Black

Child killer Robert Black found guilty of murdering Jennifer Cardy Robert Black Convicted child killer Robert Black has been found guilty of murdering Jennifer Cardy in Ballinderry, County Antrim, 30 years ago. The nine-year-old was abducted from the roadside near her home on 12 August 1981. It emerged during the trial that the 64-year-old was a predatory paedophile with a history of abusing young girls. Black, originally from Grangemouth in Scotland, is serving life in prison for the murders of three children. The jury in the trial at Armagh Crown Court was sent out to consider its verdict on Wednesday morning. On Thursday, Judge Mr Justice Ronald Weatherup said he did not want an outburst when the verdict was announced.

Robert Black

When it was finally delivered, there was an audible sigh from the public gallery. Black showed no emotion. Judge Weatherup told Black: "You have been convicted by a jury of murder. There is only one sentence that will be imposed by law. "That's the sentence of life imprisonment. Accordingly, I sentence you to life imprisonment." He then turned to the guards and said: "Take him down please." As Black was led away, Jennifer's mother Pat burst into tears and a member of the jury also began to cry. Huge search

Jennifer had left her home to cycle a short distance away to meet a friend During the course of the five-week trial, the jury heard that Jennifer had left her home to cycle a short distance away to meet a friend. Her red bicycle, which had been a birthday present two weeks earlier, was later found thrown over a hedge close to her home. After a huge search operation, her body was found at McKee's Dam near Hillsborough, six days after she disappeared. In August 1981, Black was working as a delivery driver for a London-based poster company. The prosecution said this role brought him to the Lisburn area on 12 August, the day Jennifer went missing. Abducted He stopped Jennifer before she reached her friend's house, abducted her, sexually assaulted her and killed her before dumping her body at McKee's Dam. He had always denied killing her. During his trial it was revealed that he had been convicted of several similar crimes. In 1982, he abducted and murdered 11-year-old Susan Maxwell from the village of Cornhill-on-Tweed, close to the border between Scotland and England. Like Jennifer, Susan was sexually assaulted and her body dumped close to a lay-by. A year later, Caroline Hogg disappeared from outside her home in the seaside resort of Portabello, just outside Edinburgh. Ten days later, the five-year-old was found dead in a ditch in Leicestershire. A third girl, 10-year-old Sarah Harper, was abducted as she walked from a corner shop near her home in Morley, Leeds. Robert Black had a history of sexually abusing and murdering children She was murdered by Black and her body discovered in the River Trent in Nottingham. Black, who is originally from Scotland, was caught after abducting a six-year-old girl in Stow in the Scottish borders in 1990, nine years after Jennifer's murder. He had been spotted and was caught a short time later with the girl trussed up in a sleeping bag in the back of his van. He was given a life sentence for abduction and in 1994 was convicted for the murders of Susan, Caroline and Sarah.