CONVICTED CHILD killer Robert Black has been sentenced to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison for the abduction and murder of Co Antrim schoolgirl Jennifer Cardy.

Cardy, 9, went missing while cycling to a friend’s house in 1981 from her home in Ballinderry. Her body was found six days later, UTV reports.

Sixty-four-year-old Black, who was working as a delivery driver in the area at the time of Cardy’s disappearance, was convicted of her murder in late October. The court heard that the young girl was abducted and sexually abused before she was killed.

The BBC reports that Black has been sentenced to serve a minimum 25-year sentence for Cardy’s death.

It also reports that he is currently serving life in prison for the murders of three other children in the 1980s: Susan Maxwell, 11, from the Scottish border town of Cornhill-on-Tweed; Caroline Hogg, 5, from Edinburgh; and Sarah Harper, 10, from Morley, England.

The Yorkshire Post reports that Black is also suspected of involvement in the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl from Aylesbeare in Devon who went missing while running her newspaper delivery round in 1978.

Cardy’s family was in court today for the sentencing.

Speaking after the trial in October, her parents said they would never find closure over the loss of their child, but were relieved that the “perpetrator of this gruesome, horrible crime” was brought to justice:

(Video via ITVNews)