The mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne says she wants to change how people see victims of crime.
Sara Payne’s daughter was abducted while playing with her siblings and murdered in July 2000, aged just eight.
Roy Whiting – a convicted sex offender – was jailed for life in December 2001 for her killing.
Sara told South East there were many reasons behind how people behaved, but they “still have choices”.
“You have to choose which path you’re going to take,” she said.
“I chose not to allow him [Whiting] to live in my head.
“It had to be her – so I keep Sarah.”
Sarah’s body was found 17 days after she went missing from a field near her grandparents’ house in West Sussex.
Her disappearance prompted one of the most heavily publicised searches in UK history and led to landmark legal changes.
“I don’t have anger. I don’t have aggression. I don’t want to bring back hanging or any of those things,” Sara continued.
“I just want to go forward in a humane way and be human.”