THE real outrage of the death of seven-year-old Sophie Hook was that she was raped and strangled by a monster who was known to be a social misfit and a menace.

He had been interviewed no fewer than five times over allegations involving children.

It is too late for poor Sophie that pervert Howard Hughes is now locked up for life.

But what of the other ones out there?

I am referring to the child sex addicts who, though they may have convictions for offences against children, are unknown to the community but are living in it.

Because they have done their time in jail or on probation they are free to dwell among families even though there is no certainty that their vile lust has been diminished.

Indeed, the high rate of re-offending among paedophiles suggests that it is unlikely to have been.

Should not parents have the right to know and be told when one of these sick creatures comes living in their midst?

Do their children not deserve the fullest protection?

In the light of the dreadful threat posed by these wicked men, the concern for their liberties by civil rights campaigners - such as the opposition to the unofficial register of paedophile offenders being compiled by one local newspaper with a sense of civic duty - is insane.

But even if these high-minded busybodies are a mite happier over the official blacklist of these scum to which Home Secretary Michael Howard has now agreed - as long as it is "properly held and regulated" that is - can parents still really feel content about their children's safety?

I think not, for these registers are likely to be of most value after a crime has been committed - in short, telling the police who to haul in for questioning after another poor child has been molested, raped and perhaps also murdered.

What are really needed are steps to stop these beasts fulfilling their depraved fantasies in the first place.

And, surely, mandatory castration for first-time sex offenders against children would go a long way to that aim.

It would certainly put an end to the fears of parents about those who are convicted re-offending when they are returned to the community - and would render unnecessary both the need for Mr Howard's register and the do-gooders' concerns about proper regulation of it.

These scum show no mercy when they strike and so deserve none from society.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.