Life sentence call for paedophiles

LONDON, (Reuters) -- British opposition leader William Hague has called for tougher laws to allow life sentences to be handed down to paedophiles who commit a serious sexual offence against a child.

"We should look at whether more serious sexual offences against children should be subject to a life sentence," Hague wrote in the Sunday Times newspaper.

The highly charged debate has reached fever pitch since the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne last month.

In a rare display of harmony, the government welcomed Hague's suggestion.

"Many of the things Mr Hague is talking about we very much welcome," Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said. "Consensus ...would be very welcome and sets a very different atmosphere to the sort of thing we have seen down in Portsmouth."

Gangs in Portsmouth, southern England, have caused a week of mayhem in protest at child sex offenders in their community.

Small children walked next to their parents holding banners proclaiming "Kill the Paedophiles" and "Hang Them."

Elsewhere, two men charged with child sex offences killed themselves in the past week in separate incidents.

In his article, appearing the day after hundreds of mourners joined Sarah's family in an emotion-charged memorial service, Hague said the possibility of automatic life sentences for repeat offenders should also be examined.

The Conservative leader condemned the vigilante violence that has followed publication of the names and photographs of paedophiles in the News of the World tabloid which started a "naming and shaming" campaign after Sarah was murdered.

Conservative Party chairman Michael Ancram said a life sentence would give the authorities more power to protect children from abusers who might reoffend.

"Life sentences...don't necessarily mean you serve the whole of your sentence in prison," he told a television programme. "It does mean if you are released, you are released on licence, you can be recalled if you actually reoffend.

"But it could well mean life meaning life in circumstances where that is absolutely warranted."

Ancram echoed Prescott's call for calm. "The proposals...are getting away from the emotional and understandably emotional reaction to the terrible, tragic death of Sarah Payne," he said. "It must be through the forces of law and order and not...the rule of the mob."

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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