Many people have been struck by the lack of bitterness displayed by the parents of nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy, abducted and murdered by serial child killer Robert Black, who died in Maghaberry prison on Tuesday.
Indeed, the attitude of the deeply Christian Cardy family stands in powerful contrast to the sheer evil demonstrated by the depraved Black who was convicted of murdering four young girls and was linked to at least ten further killings.
Jennifer's brother Philip Cardy told how he had no hatred for the killer of his sister and had even prayed for him.
It is very apparent that their strong faith has helped the Cardy family deal with their heartbreaking loss.
Jennifer disappeared in 1981 after setting off to cycle to a friend's house in the Co Antrim village of Ballinderry. Her body was found six days later but it was 30 years before Black was convicted of her murder.
He was also found guilty of murdering Sarah Harper (10) in England and Susan Maxwell (11) and five-year-old Caroline Hogg who were both from Scotland.
Black was named as a suspect in the disappearance of six-year-old Mary Boyle from Donegal while police revealed yesterday they wanted to charge him with the murder of Genette Tate in Devon in 1978.
It is difficult to contemplate the sheer wickedness and cruelty of this one man. His job as a delivery driver allowed this paedophile, with a record for sex offences, to roam Britain and Ireland, snatching, torturing and murdering young girls.
His case bears striking similarities to that of notorious sex offender and killer Robert Howard, suspected of murdering Castlederg teenager Arlene Arkinson, who died last year without revealing the whereabouts of her body.
Black, who remained at large for so long and stole so many lives, also takes his secrets to the grave, depriving countless families of the justice they deserved.
