Who is Robert Black? True story behind Channel 5's Child Snatcher

The six-year-old was hooded, bound, gagged and stuffed in a sleeping bag in the back of his van. Black had sexually assaulted her moments earlier.

After Black was arrested, the young girl’s father, who was a policeman, recognised a similarity between the man in custody and an artist's sketch of a suspect in a child murder case from seven years earlier.

Detectives began to delve into Black's background and movements, leading them to connect him to a series of unsolved crimes in the previous decade.

He was eventually found guilty of the murders of four children from across the UK.

First aired last year but repeated at the beginning of 2024, Channel 5 documentary The Child Snatcher: Manhunt delves into the case of the serial killer, charting what became one of the UK’s largest police investigations, as detectives from multiple forces attempted to connect the dots between the string of murders which happened across the UK.

So, who exactly is Robert Black and where is he now? Read on for everything you need to know.

Who is Robert Black?

Robert Black was a delivery driver and, after he was arrested in 1990, it was revealed he would travel the country in his van after abducting his victims, enabling him to go undetected for many years.

In 1994, Black was found guilty of three child murders, those of 11-year-old Susan Maxwell, from the Scottish Borders, five-year-old Caroline Hogg, from Edinburgh, and Sarah Harper, 10, from Morley, near Leeds.

In 1982, Susan Maxwell was abducted and her body was discovered two weeks later roughly 250 miles from her home town.

In 1983, five-year-old Caroline Hogg was found in a layby near Twycross, Leicestershire, 12 days after she disappeared near Portobello promenade. Her remains were discovered not far from those of Susan Maxwell.

In 1986, the body of ten-year-old Sarah Harper was discovered in the River Trent, three weeks after she’d been kidnapped in Morley, Leeds.

Black was also found guilty of a failed abduction bid in Nottingham in 1988 and, in 2011, he was found guilty of the murder of nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy from Ballinderry, Northern Ireland.

He is also suspected of involvement in other killings and unexplained disappearances.

Is Robert Black still alive?

Robert Black died of heart disease in Northern Ireland's Maghaberry Prison in 2016 at the age of 68, where he was serving life for his murders.

He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea after prison authorities in North Ireland revealed no one wanted his remains.

Black suffered a stroke in 1996, two years into his sentence for the murders of Susan Maxwell, Caroline Hogg and Sarah Harper.

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The Child Snatcher: Manhunt is available to watch now on My5. Check out more of our Documentaries coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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