THE organiser of a campaign to bring back the death penalty for child killers vowed she would not be put off by only 21 people turning out to a York protest march.

Gillian Chambers, of Acomb, claims support throughout York and the rest of the UK for her campaign, despite the small turnout.

She is calling for a public debate and referendum on the return of capital punishment, a campaign inspired by the 1986 killing of Mrs Chambers's nine-year-old niece Nicola Fellows, and the recent murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells.

Mrs Chambers said: "This march isn't just about bringing back the death penalty, it is a march for murdered children, it is about letting the government know we don't want our children to become another statistic.

"You ask the people on the street. Nine times out of ten they support what we are doing."

Mrs Chambers added: "I was hoping there would be a few more here, but I am not disappointed. This is a good group, people are very determined, we will just have to shout louder."

Onlooker Roy Scott, of Selby, said: "If they can prove they've done it 100 per cent, or they admit it, let them swing. I'd pull the trigger myself."

But Ruth and Janet Nicholls, of Sheffield, said: "Killing them takes us down to their level. They should be put in prison for life, meaning life, and there should be no comforts for them while they're in there."

Huntington resident Charles Everett, has spoken out strongly against the death penalty despite being the victim of an horrific shotgun attack in 1970.

Mr Everett was asleep in bed when a man broke into his home, shot him and his father, then terrorised his sister.

The family survived the attack and publicly forgave the gunman.

Mr Everett said today: "If you harbour hatred you cannot find peace. Even if you can't forgive just some degree of acceptance is needed for the horrific acts to melt away.

"I would be horrified if the death penalty was brought back and I hope it never happens. If, as a society, we can move our thought processes away from hate towards forgiveness the effect can only be good."

Mrs Chambers's niece Nicola Fellows and ten-year-old friend, Karen Hadaway, were found sexually assaulted and strangled in a Brighton park, in a case dubbed the "Babes in the Woods" murders.

Paedophile Russell Bishop, who was recently treated in York District Hospital for heart problems, was tried, and acquitted, of the killings.

Bishop is currently serving life in Full Sutton Prison for sexually assaulting and attempting to murder a seven-year-old girl.

Updated: 11:44 Monday, September 16, 2002