SARAH PAYNE was her 'little angel' until she was abducted and murdered by a paedophile - today the tragic girl's grandmother joined The Press campaign to control child abductors.

Yesterday, we revealed how Sara Payne - one of the nation's most recognisable campaigners against paedophiles - had joined forces with The Press after we discovered a loophole which allowed child abductors to avoid being banned from working with children, or being placed on the Sex Offenders' Register.

That came after Judge Paul Hoffman hit out at the law when jailing would-be child abductor Terry Delaney, of Acomb, York, for four years after he tried to snatch a 13-year-old from a bus stop.

Judge Hoffman wanted to put Delaney on the register and ban him from working with children, but couldn't because child

abduction is not classed as a sexual offence.

So we teamed up with Sara Payne to lobby the Home Office, and won a pledge that the law will now be reviewed.

Today, little Sarah's grandmother, Lesley Payne, backed The Press campaign, saying: "Anything which does some good must be welcomed.

"The judge was absolutely correct in what he said in that courtroom, and the Government should listen to his message.

"Hearing about Delaney's case brings everything that happened to my granddaughter back, and I'm glad someone is taking a stand. I don't believe these people change, I believe they remain a danger to our children. So we have to protect our children - they are our future."

The Home Office has pledged to review the law so that in future judges will have the power in child abduction cases to impose more control orders if they feel there was a sexual element to the crime.

In Delaney's case, probation officers said his attempted abduction was motivated either by lust or violence.

Judge Hoffman said: "It makes no sense to me. It is obviously an anomaly.

"For all the legislation, all the attempts of the Government to cover situations like this, where a judge previously regarded a defendant as a danger for the future, to be enforced by conventional sentencing, it is quite an extraordinary situation."

Sara said: "I would like to thank The Press for bringing this case to our attention. We have been campaigning for a long time for child abduction to be recognised as a sexual offence.

"Now we hope there will be a change in the law so that anyone who abducts a child who is a stranger to them can be put on the Sex Offenders' Register or given some other order to restrict their movements."

York MP Hugh Bayley welcomed the growing support for our appeal.

He said: "I think it is absolutely right The Press's campaign should be gaining such momentum.

"When a judge says he thinks somebody should be on the Sex Offenders' Register but is unable to register them, I think Parliament has a duty to look at the case and to press for a change in the law.

"I take this very seriously. I will be asking the Home Office to change the law so as to give the public stronger protection against people who judges believe may commit sexual offences."

Updated: 10:26 Friday, April 28, 2006