SERIAL sex offender James Warke may be going to prison for a long time following his conviction for abducting a 12-year-old boy from Blackburn. But even with this conclusion, this is a case that remains deeply disturbing.

For it graphically underlines the law's failure to protect children from preying paedophiles when they are not in jail - and highlights the manifest inability of the sex offenders' register to prevent them repeating their monstrous crimes.

The evil Warke's case is a chilling illustration of this frailty.

He had a long history of criminal convictions.

He had been to prison before for kidnapping and attacking young boys.

He had more than ten convictions for offences against boys as young as four.

And, notably, when this dangerous drifter came to East Lancashire he was able to carry on as before, despite being on the sex offenders' registers and being under the supervision of police and probation officers.

Yet, today we are told that all the agencies involved did all they should have - and more - to protect children from Warke.

But if, as a high-level inquiry concludes, none is to blame for what went wrong, then it is clearly the case that the law is not strong enough and that the government must make it tougher.

This, of course, returns it to the now-familiar dilemma of what society can do with criminals once they have served their punishment in jail. Having had the inadequacy of the existing post-prison restraints on paedophiles glaringly emphasised by this case in his own constituency, Home Secretary Jack Straw must act swiftly and firmly.

And does he not have the remedy to hand already - in the measures he proposed only three months ago for locking up the so-called "walking time-bomb" dangerous people with severe and untreatable personality disorders before they harm anyone?

Surely, these dreadful paedophiles must come into that category.

There cannot be doubt any longer that those like Warke, who have time and again proved their danger to children, should be removed from society, not temporarily so they may be released and prey again, but for good.

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