The nation's sorrow over the sad death of eight-year-old Sarah Payne is turning to anger now that facts about her murder are emerging.

That's why the Argus is offering a reward today of £10,000 for information leading to the conviction of her killer.

It is hard for ordinary people to contemplate the mind of someone who could kidnap a little girl from where she was playing in a field, kill her and then dump her in the countryside.

What we do know is that this was a cold-blooded, calculated killing by someone who knew perfectly well what he was doing.

He left as few clues as possible and dumped Sarah's body where it was not found for a fortnight, despite one of the most intensive searches in modern police history.

This killer must be caught and caught soon. He must be brought to justice for the sake of Sarah and her family.

There is also a danger that someone who could commit a crime as terrible as this in broad daylight could attack another child.

Police are doing their utmost in a careful and scientific examination of the case to find the clues that will lead them to the killer.

But they need the assistance of anyone who has any information, no matter how small, that might help.

Poor showing Wealden Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Johnson-Smith came near the bottom of the House of Commons league table for voting in Parliament.

He came 607th out of 658 MPs and was there for only 25 per cent of the votes. His Bexhill colleague, Charles Wardle, did not have a much better record.

Unlike party leaders and Cabinet Ministers, these back bench MPs do not have the real excuse of other more important duties for missing votes.

Neither man might go before the electorate again, but voters and party officials need convincing explanations of why their Parliamentary attendances have been so abysmal.

Postman art Postman Pat is the unlikely subject of an art exhibition at Gorringe's gallery in Lewes from Saturday for a fortnight.

But the paintings of the trusty children's book character and his cat, Jess, are likely to be the most popular the gallery has ever seen.

Children and many adults regard the good-natured country postman as a first-class male.