Sara Payne Quits Twitter After Decade Of 'Abuse'

Campaigner Sara Payne, whose daughter Sarah was abducted and killed in 2000, has closed her Twitter account after reportedly enduring years of "unrelenting" harassment.

Fellow campaigner and close friend Shy Keenan tweeted that Mrs Payne had been "forced to close down her Twitter account" after enduring an "unrelenting" campaign of online abuse.

She told Sky News that she and a number of Mrs Payne's associates had suffered "10 years of stalking and harassment" across numerous social media platforms.

Ms Keenan said much of the abuse was related to Sarah, who was murdered near her grandparents' home in West Sussex in 2000.

Convicted paedophile Roy Whiting is serving a life sentence for the eight-year-old's murder.

More recent posts referenced Sarah's father Michael, who was found dead at his home in October.

Ms Keenan said she, Mrs Payne and several others have reported the allegations and a police investigation is under way.

Mrs Payne MBE became a child protection campaigner after her daughter's death.

Sarah's Law, which allows parents to check whether people with access to their children are sex offenders, was introduced in 2011.