Robert Black dead: Convicted child killer dies in Northern Ireland prison aged 68

Black was convicted of the murders of four children in the 1980s

(PA)

Convicted child killer Robert Black has died in prison at the age of 68.

Black, who was born in Scotland, had been jailed in Northern Ireland for the murders of four schoolgirls in the 1980s.

He was serving 12 life sentences for the crimes.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service has confirmed an inmate died in non-suspicious circumstances. The BBC reports that Black died of natural causes in Maghaberry prison.

A statement from the prison service read: "While this is not being treated as suspicious, the Prison Service has informed the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Coroner, and Prisoner Ombudsman," the statement added.

"It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time."

Murdered nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy, who was killed by Black in 1981 after being abducted from the roadside near her home (Rex Features)

The serial child killer and paedophile had been convicted of the murders of nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy from Northern Ireland; 10-year-old Sarah Harper from England; 11-year-old Susan Maxwell and five-year-old Caroline Hogg, both from Scotland.


 Murdered 10-year-old Sarah Harper who abducted by Black as she walked from a corner shop near her home in Morely, Leeds
 (Rex Features)

Black was first jailed after being caught by police in 1990 with a six-year-old girl in the back of his van in the Scottish village of Stow. The girl was found hooded, bound, gagged and stuffed in a sleeping bag. She had been sexually assaulted by Black moments earlier and it was said she could have been fifteen minutes from dying had the police not found her.

He was found guilty in 1994 of three unsolved child murders of Susan, Sarah and Caroline, all dating back to the 1980s, in addition to a failed abduction bid in Nottingham in in 1988.

The murderer was a suspect in other killings and had long been the prime suspect in the case of Genette Tate.

Black in an undated photograph (Rex Features)

The 13-year-old was last seen in a rural lane in Aylesbeare, Devon, in 1978, though no trace of her has ever been found. She was a newspaper delivery girl and all that was found at the scene of her apparent abduction was her bike and scattered papers.

Black was convicted of the 1981 murder of Jennifer while in prison in 2012. At the time, a full-scale hunt was launched to find the girl, who had been snatched while cycling to a friend’s house in the Country Antrim village of Ballinderry. Her body was eventually found in a local dam six years later.

Additional reporting by PA