PRO DEATH PENALTY QUOTES OF THE WEEK (Victims’ Families in Europe) [SUNDAY 17 JUNE 2012 TO SATURDAY 23 JUNE 2012]

QUOTE 1: Thursday 27 October 2011 - SERIAL child killer Robert Black will die in jail after being given his 11th life sentence.

Sex attacker Black, suspected of killing dozens of youngsters, was convicted yesterday of murdering nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy more than 30 years ago.

He was already behind bars after being found guilty in 1994 of murdering Borders schoolgirl Susan Maxwell, 11, in 1982, Caroline Hogg, five, from Portobello, near Edinburgh, in 1983 and 10-year-old Sarah Harper, who was abducted near her home in Morley, Leeds, in 1986.

Jennifer Cardy’s parents said prayers for her killer despite listening to harrowing details of their daughter’s abduction, abuse and murder. But her father urged restoration of the death penalty.

Devout Christians Andy and Patricia Cardy said their faith had given them the strength to face Black’s trial at Armagh Crown Court.

Mr Cardy said afterwards: “Robert Black stole the life of our daughter Jennifer but Robert Black didn’t steal the lives of me and my family – we’ve lived a happy, prosperous life, but we miss Jennifer each and every day. I would have to say that somebody who commits murders like this, I believe their lives should be taken. I believe they should be put to death, that’s my belief.

“I don’t mean that in a vengeful way, I mean that in a just and righteous way.”

QUOTE 2: Speaking after the verdict, Mrs Cardy said: "We have the relief that the perpetrator of this gruesome, horrible crime has been brought to justice."

Her husband, Andy, said: "Somebody who commits murders like this. Their life should be taken away. They should be put to death."

AUTHOR: Parents of Jennifer Cardy - On 12 August 1981, nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy cycled from her house in Ballinderry, County Antrim in Northern Ireland to meet a friend. Her bicycle was recovered close to her home. Her body was found at McKee's Dam near Hillsborough, County Down six days later. She had been sexually assaulted. Black, who at the time was working in the area for a poster-delivery company, was convicted of her kidnap, sexual assault and murder at Armagh Crown Court on 27 October 2011. Robert Black (born 21 April 1947 in Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, Scotland) is a Scottish paedophile serial killer convicted of the kidnap, rape and murder of four girls between the ages of 5 and 11 between 1981 and 1986 in the United Kingdom. Black was also convicted of the kidnap of a fifth girl and the attempted kidnap of a sixth. Black is also suspected of a number of unsolved child murders in the UK dating back to 1969 and others in the 1970s throughout Europe.