UK man charged over girl's murder

Sarah Payne went missing after a day at the beach

LONDON, England -- A man has been charged with the murder of eight-year-old schoolgirl Sarah Payne.

Police also on Tuesday charged Roy Whiting, a 42-year-old mechanic, with the kidnapping of the girl, who disappeared last July near her grandparents' home in southern England.

The murder attracted huge media coverage in Britain last summer and sparked a national campaign for tougher laws against paedophiles.

Detective Superintendent Peter Kennett, who led the hunt for Sarah's killer, said Whiting would appear before magistrates at Chichester, West Sussex, on Wednesday.

Whiting, from Littlehampton, West Sussex, was arrested on Tuesday in Kent and driven to Bognor Regis police station in West Sussex for questioning.

Sarah's body was found 16 days after she disappeared partially buried in a field about 15 miles north of where she was last seen. Police believe she was strangled or suffocated.

Sarah had been playing with her brothers Lee, 13, Luke 11, and six-year-old sister Charlotte after a day on the beach.

A massive police operation was launched -- at its peak up to 2,000 people a day were contacting detectives.

Detectives took more than 33,000 calls in the month the youngster went missing.

Police have informed the child's parents, Sara and Michael, who live at Horsham, Surrey, of the charges.

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