THEY refuse to speak his name and tremble with rage at any mention of the beast that blighted their lives.
But last night the parents of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne vented their fury at Roy Whiting for his so-called confession to their daughter's killing.
And they vowed they will NEVER forgive the twisted paedophile.
Sara and Michael Payne's anger spilled over just days before the anniversary of their little girl's death.
Evil Whiting was supposed to have admitted his guilt last week as he gave evidence about having his face slashed in jail.
Barrister Christopher Tehrani told him: "You are serving a life sentence for murder. You kidnapped and killed Sarah Payne."
Whiting answered: "Correct."
Monster
For Sara and Michael that one-word reply only adds to the contempt they feel for the monster.
Michael's eyes filled with tears as he said: "That was not a confession. I don't believe it because I know he wouldn't admit it. He's not that kind of person.
"That man was only agreeing to the statement put to him as to why he was in prison, not saying that he'd done it."
Sara put a comforting arm around him and agreed: "I don't think his comments amounted to a confession at all.
"In fact, if that man has a confession to make, I don't want to hear it. I never want to hear it.
"If he had handed himself in, told us where she was and begged forgiveness, I would still hate him with every ounce of breath. There is nothing he can do or say now that can ever bring Sarah back.
"He had his opportunity to plead guilty in court during the trial."
Sara's voice trembled as she continued in a whisper: "And what about those 17 days we searched for our daughter? We pleaded and begged for information to help find Sarah.
"The only person who knew where she was didn't bother to speak out then, did he?
"He knew there were thousands of people out looking for our daughter. It was on every news bulletin countrywide. And his first reaction to the police when they approached him? He said: ‘Sarah who?'
"Whatever happened to human decency? As far as I'm concerned even an apology from that man wouldn't be acceptable. It doesn't begin to scratch the surface of what he's done.
"In fact, an apology from that man would be sickening."
She added, with undisguised loathing: "I don't want to give him any credence in our lives. We want nothing to do with him.
"I don't want to hear another word that man utters. I never want to hear from that man again."
Whiting, 45, appeared at Leeds Crown Court to give evidence against fellow inmate Rickie Tregaskis, who was convicted of wounding him.
The 35-year-old killer, from Jersey, was sentenced to six years—to run alongside his life sentence—for slashing Whiting's face with two parallel razor blades, leaving a scar from the paedophile's lip to his ear.
For a brief second Michael smiled. "When I heard he had been attacked my reaction was one of joy initially," he said.
"I hope it hurt. I hope they treated the wound with salt water. I hope it got infected.
"I know that all sounds harsh, but those are the kind of feelings he brings out in me. When I first heard about him being attacked I felt anything that makes him suffer suits me fine.
"But it's never going to match the pain he's caused us." Sara glanced at her husband knowingly, for only they can understand the crushing agony Whiting has caused their family.
His wicked deeds destroyed their marriage, as we revealed last September.
Ordeal
Then earlier this year we told how Michael tried to take his own life in a desperate cry for help. He was admitted to hospital for four weeks of intensive therapy.
And although they have previously summoned up the courage to talk about their never-ending ordeal, the couple admitted this was the hardest interview they have ever given.
Chain-smoking dad Michael shook nervously and rolled another cigarette. "The anger and frustration just builds up inside me when I think about what he's done. I can't help welling up," he said. "We never discuss that man at home.
"I purposely try to not read the papers when he's in them—but people can't help telling you all about it and asking questions, so it just brings it all back.
"When his name is mentioned it turns me into something I don't want to be...angry, hurt, upset.
"Being full of hatred for someone isn't a nice feeling. It's unhealthy.
"All that energy spent hating him could be focused on more positive things.
Sara, 35, said: "Since he's been out of hospital, Mike is managing things a lot better than he was and, for the first time in a long time, he is more in control."
Abducted
But Sara and Michael, of Hersham, Surrey, can't disguise the anger and hurt caused by "that man" coming back to haunt them so close to the anniversary of Sarah's disappearance.
On Thursday it will be four years since she was abducted while playing with her brothers and sister in a cornfield near her grandparents' home in Kingston Gorse, Sussex.
Her body was found 16 days later in a shallow grave at Pulborough, Sussex.
"It's a difficult time for both of us right now," said Sara.
"Why didn't they put his court case back for two months, or bring it forward two months earlier?
"It's very insensitive to put that man back into the public arena to coincide with the time of year that he murdered my daughter.
"As July 1 approaches, I start getting bad days again. Things affect me more.
"It's like a natural reaction. It's not like it's marked on a calendar in the house. It almost affects the body and mind, like being generally fragile.
"I notice it with the kids too. Anyone who has been through it will understand.
"Everything is harder at this time of year but it's made even worse by having his name rammed down our throats this last week.
"On days like this I feel I could hit the bottle again. Even doing this interview discussing him, I'm not sure whether I want to cry or down a glass of wine."
Mike, too, struggled to keep the tears at bay. "People sometimes ask me whether I would ever meet him to find out what happened during my daughter's final hours.
"I couldn't do it," he said.
"We already know the pain and sheer hell that Sarah went through having been picked up by a complete stranger.
"We don't need anyone to highlight the details.
"I'd want to kill him. It wouldn't benefit us in any way at all. It would just take us right back to when this nightmare began and hurt us even more.
"That's no doubt what he'd want."
The thought of meeting Whiting had Sara reaching for another smoke. Her message is simple but heartfelt.
"He can rot in hell!"
Mike added: "Sometimes I think to myself, ‘What if he killed himself in prison?' I would be gutted. It would just be escaping.
"I'd like him to live to a ripe old age and suffer every single day—just like we have to.
"The difference is we don't have to look over our shoulder every day for a man with two razor blades and a matchstick in between.
"To me it's not important at all whether he confesses. You'll never get the real truth out of him anyway.
"The evidence in court gave us the real truth about what happened.
"If he told me the sky was blue I wouldn't believe him. I'd have to look outside to check.
"It's down to him that things are 1,000 times worse. A confession from him will not see Sarah coming home, walking through our front door, ever again."
For Sara, talking about her daughter's vile killer has become too much to bear.
"I have no more to say about the man," she says.
"As far as we're concerned he's in the only place for him and he will never be allowed to prey on little girls again.
Police
"We won't give him the satisfaction of discussing him any more. Because of his unforgivable actions, he is in our minds for ever. That is punishment enough.
"If he wants to confess he can get in touch with the police and they will hear his confession.
"We have no message for that man. There are no words strong enough that could express how we feel."
Michael added "Not for publication in your newspaper anyway."
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