Faith

Following the murder of her daughter Jane in 2003, Liz Longhurst did not become bitter.
Instead she threw her energies into a campaign to change the law on the possession of violent pornography.

Liz told BBC Radio Berkshire's Clare Catford she has still not found it possible to forgive her daughter's murderer, Graham Coutts.

Liz Longhurst

Liz said: "At the beginning, it was awful. I felt the worst thing was that I couldn't really forgive the person who did that.

"After about a year I realised that God would forgive me for not forgiving him, and after that I felt alright.
"I also feel it's very easy for your personality to become completely warped with bitterness, but I thought I couldn't let him kill my wonderful daughter and turn me into a bitter person.

Liz Longhurst's agony over her daughter's death was heightened during the five weeks in which she waited to find out if her beloved Jane had been murdered.
She said: "That was terrible. It was really awful, we couldn't really be quite sure that she was dead. I knew in my heart she must be dead but I didn't really have proof that she was.

"A few TV reporters tried to get me to admit that she was dead, before they found her body. I couldn't do that."

Jane's funeral

But Liz said she felt sorry for her daughter's murderer, a man obsessed with violent pornography.

She said: "Part of me feels very sorry for him. How awful to have your thoughts limited by this sort of thing, cluttered and filled up with this dreadful material."

Thanks to Liz's efforts and the support of Reading West MP Martin Salter and Amnesty International a new law was introduced on 26 January, 2009, which makes it illegal to possess the most extreme examples of violent pornography.

Liz said although she never stopped thinking about her daughter Jane, she had come to a balance with life, and she did enjoy life.

She said: " My husband died in 2000. I think he would have been absolutely heart broken, and I've often thought what a blessing it was that he died before Jane.

"When people seem to die too young, it is terrible.

"You just have to be extremely positive with life and get on with it."

Join Clare Catford on BBC Radio Berkshire to hear more local people discussing their life and their faith every Sunday morning from 6am - 9am.