A Killer's Smile

The photograph is of an apparently ordinary schoolgirl. But Sharon Carr was to go on to become Britain's youngest murderess at the age of 12.

On a Surrey street in 1992, she stabbed 18-year-old hair-dresser Katie Rackliff at least 29 times before mutilating her body.

Yesterday, after a Winchester Crown Court jury unanimously found her guilty of murder, she was sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure.

But as Carr, now 17, begins her sentence, a Mail investigation can reveal the hor­rific childhood of a girl left in the care of a mother who practised the black magic art of voodoo.

While still a toddler growing up in her native Belize, she witnessed a man being burned alive and the ritualistic killing of animals - a slaughter she would later inflict on family pets after moving to Camberlye.

At the age of seven, she saw her mother Molly pour boiling fat over her stepfather. By 11, she was drinking, smoking and taking drugs.

In 1994 - on the second anniversary of Katie's Rackliff's killing - Carr attacked a 13-year-old girl in a school toilet cubicle. Annie Clifford was stabbed but survived.

Sentencing Carr yesterday, Mr. Justice Scott told her that in his view she was 'an extremely dangerous young woman'. He added: "The evidence suggests that you were not alone when you stabbed Katie Rackliff to death in 1992. Who the others were and any part they played remains unclear.

'What is clear is that you had a sexual motive for this likking and it is apparent, both from the brutal manner in which you mutilated her body and chilling entries in your diary recording what you had done, that killing, as you put it, turns you on'.

After the verdict, Katie's father Joseph Rackliff said of Carr: 'I hope she rots in hell'.

Detective Sergeant Paul Clements, who carried out 27 hours of interviews with Carr, said he was not surprised at her reaction as she was led smiling from the dock.

'She reacted in similar ways during interviews when we were discussing some quite horrific details,' he said. 'When the interviews were finished, she often walked away with a smile on her face. I have not interviewed anyone like her'.

Another detective said: 'In a one-to-one situation, Sharon Carr is the most danger­ous woman in Britain, there can be little doubt about that'.

Last night, social services chiefs faced calls for a public inquiry into the case.

Carr was left in her mother's control despite the concern of teachers and social workers about the girl's very difficult' domestic situation.

Surcey County Council last night said that Carr and her family first came to the attention of social services in the late 1980’s.

It added that, prior to Carr's arrest over the Annie Clifford case, 'the view taken by social services was that the overall quality of life in the family home did not require Sharon's removal to council care.

'It is generally agreed that giving support to the family to stay together is the most appropriate type of intervention in such circumstances'.

A case review is now underway to 'determine whether any of the circumstances could reasonably have been foreseen'.

Last night, Annie's mother Marie Clifford said: 'We thought at the time of Annie's case that this was not an isolated incident. We expected that Sharon Carr had already struck before.

'On hearing about her violent behaviour in and out of school, from both pupils and parents, we felt that she was not just an average pupil. We now want a fresh inquiry into her case.

'We want to know why she was allowed to stay in a mainstream school.

'Our daughter could have been brutally murdered. Our thoughts are now with Katie Rackliff and her family'.

Sasan Carpenter, vice-principal of Collingwood College in Camberley, which Carr attended after Katie's death, said the killer had initially made good progress at the school.

She said: 'She had a lot of older friends - boys and girls. A lot of staff liked her, they found her very refreshing. One or two did find that she was a little bit difficult and could be a little bit aggressive'.

Ex.l. Answer the following questions:

1. What crime is Sharon Carr charged with?

2. What do you know about the way she was brought up?

3. How did the detective characterize Sharon?

4. How was Sharon characterized at school?

Ex.2. Retell the text using the words and phrases below:

To stab, to mutilate, to sentence, to detain, to begin one's sentence, to carry inter­views, one-to-one situation, a case review is underway, to determine circumstances, a fresh inquiry into a case, to be brutally murdered.