Robert Black

Robert Black is possibly the UK's most renowned child killer after the Moors Murderers. The hunt for the abductor and killer of three schoolgirls in the 1980s was long and arduous, but finally resulted in Black's arrest and trial in 1994.

Black was born in April 1947 and suffered an unhappy, confusing childhood. His natural mother had him fostered, and he suffered from constant bullying at school. He was seen as an odd child and took part in petty crime and also gained sexual thrills in unusual manners when alone in his room.

He tried his first rape at the age of 12, received a conviction for lewd behaviour with an infant girl when he was 17, and molested around 40 girls in total while working as a delivery boy.

Black eventually got his first proper girlfriend—this relationship, however, was ended by the woman and Black was distraught. It is believed that this setback tipped him over the edge, and he turned to murder.

Police believe to this day that Black is responsible for the disappearance and death of a number of schoolgirls in various areas of the UK between 1969 and 1990, none of whom have ever been found. However, Black was only convicted of three murders—those of 11-year-old Susan Maxwell in 1982; Caroline Hogg, aged five, a year later; and Sarah Harper, aged ten, in 1986. The bodies of these victims were all found. He was also convicted of attempting to abduct a 14-year-old girl in 1990. He was questioned and charged with these crimes while serving a life sentence for abducting and sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl.

Black remains in prison, and it is believed he is on the short list of prisoners who have been informed that they will never be allowed their freedom, though when the last list of such prisoners on a whole life tariff was published, Black's name was not on it (a handful of further prisoners were on the list but these were not publicly released—Black may be on this list).

When sentenced to life imprisonment at his trial, Black was ordered to serve a minimum of 35 years by the trial judge. That was later increased to 'whole life' by the Home Secretary. Even though the Home Secretary no longer has the power to decide how long a life sentence prisoner should spend in prison, the trial judge's recommendation means that Black is unlikely to be released before 2029, when he will be 82.

Police have asked Black about the disappearance of the girls whose fates remain unknown, but have not made progress. The files, however, all remain open.