The girl who killed aged 12

A teenager yesterday became Britain's youngest girl murderer when she was convicted of stabbing a woman 29 times in a killing she committed at the age of 12.

Sharon Carr, now 17, from Camberley, Surrey, was detained at Her Majesty's pleasure for murdering Katie Rackliff, aged 18, in l992.

Sentencing Carr at Winchester Crown Court, Mr Justice Scott Baker said she was "an extremely dangerous young woman''. He lifted an order banning identification which had been in force during the trial. He said: "What is clear is that you had a sexual motive for this killing and it is apparent both from the brutal manner in which you mutilated her body and chilling entries in your diary recordings you had done, that killing, as you put it, turns you on."

The judge said the evidence suggested that Carr was not alone when Ms Rackliff, a trainee hairdresser, was murdered on her way home from a nightclub in Camberley. Her mutilated body was found four miles away.

The court was told Carr had a previous conviction for stabbing a 13-year- old fellow pupil at her school - which had taken place on the second anniversary of Ms Rackliff's murder. Detectives in the Rackliff case were alerted by staff at the young offenders' institution where Carr was detained for the stabbing, after she began talking about the killing and writing about it her diary.

After the jury arrived at their verdict following five hours' deliberation, Ms Rackliff's father, Joseph Rackliff, 58, said of Carr: "I hope she rots in Hell ... she should have hung, shouldn't she?

"Obviously we are very relieved at the verdict, but it doesn't bring Katie back at all. It is still a very sad occasion for us. It's been a tough five years. We are still, as you can see, grieving people and [will] remain that way for the rest of our lives."

In 1968, Mary Bell, 11, was convicted of killing two boys aged four and three in Newcastle. But she was found guilty of manslaughter, not murder.

Born to be a killer, page 4