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The heartbroken parents of a murdered schoolgirl will be forced to go through the torture of seeing their daughter’s killer in court again after it was announced he will appeal his conviction.
Child serial killer Robert Black was found guilty last month of kidnapping and murdering nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy as she cycled to a friend's house in Ballinderry, Co Antrim in August 1981.
During the heartwrenching trial, Jennifer's mother Patricia fled the courtroom weeping as Black could be heard on tape telling police how he enjoyed sexually abusing young girls.
On what must have been an agonising day of evidence for the girl’s parents, her father Andy sat with his head down as the 64-year-old Scottish paedophile could be heard telling officers during a 2005 interview that he had two sides — one that enjoys abusing young girls and the other that knows it is wrong.
The former delivery driver, who was in the region on a work trip from London, murdered Jennifer before dumping her body in a dam close to a roadside lay-by. He then caught the overnight ferry back to England.
Following a six-week trial, the jury at Armagh Crown Court delivered unanimous guilty verdicts on the counts of kidnap and murder after four hours and 15 minutes of deliberations. It is understood the killer's legal team will submit appeal papers to the authorities in Belfast within two weeks.
Already serving multiple life sentences in Wakefield prison in England for three child murders, Black is due to be sentenced for Jennifer's kidnap and murder on December 8.
Factfile
Detectives in England are reviewing the evidence against Robert Black in connection with another schoolgirl disappearance. He has long been the prime suspect in the case of missing Genette Tate (13), last seen in a rural lane in Devon in 1978. No trace of the newspaper delivery girl has ever been found.The verdict in the Cardy case could prompt detectives to submit another file to the CPS.
