AFTER finishing a bowl of Coco Pops, little Sophie North was driven to school and smiled sweetly at her dad as he dropped her off.

Dr Mick North watched as his five-year-old daughter stood quietly in her grey pinafore and red jumper in the classroom before heading to work.

6
Sophie North, 5, lost her life in Dunblane, the deadliest mass shooting in British historyCredit: supplied
 

6
Sophie’s dad Mick North founded the Gun Control Network, a non-profit group calling for tighter gun lawsCredit: Darren Fletcher
It was March 13, 1996, and the last time he would see her.

Just hours later, armed with an arsenal of guns and 743 bullets, social misfit Thomas Hamilton marched into Dunblane Primary School and fatally shot Sophie, along with 15 of her classmates and their teacher.

It became the deadliest mass shooting in British history.

Almost 30 years on, Mick says the image of his only child — “a bright, happy and intelligent girl” — remains with him to this day.

In an exclusive interview, he reveals how the agony and anguish of losing Sophie in the Dunblane Massacre propelled him into a life of campaigning for stricter gun laws in the UK.

Dr Mick, now 78, says: “I remember that morning as clear as day.

“It was frosty and bright. We’d had our breakfast, we got to school and I said ‘goodbye’ and she said ‘goodbye, Dad’.

“There was nothing to suggest that it would turn into the worst day of my life.

“People ask me, ‘Can you imagine what Sophie would be like now?’

“I don’t want to torture myself like that. Sophie will always be five to me.”

As the 30th anniversary of the attack approaches on Friday, Mick has a message for politicians: “Don’t ever become complacent over gun law.

“Guns endanger life and we must never have another Dunblane.”

Hamilton, 43, burst into the school’s gym around 9.30am with handguns, two pistols and two revolvers.

In four minutes, the fiend murdered 16 children, aged five and six, their Primary 1 teacher Gwen Mayor, and injured another 16 before turning the gun on himself. Sophie was shot five times.

Two years before the tragedy, Mick’s wife Barbara had died of breast cancer.

He says: “It was a devastating loss. I became the primary carer even before Barbara died, so Sophie and I become very close.

“We had two road trips to America where I was working, a road trip to Legoland in Denmark, and there were a lot of laughs.

“We had so much time together. I’m so glad we were so close.”

But everything changed that March morning.

Lecturer Mick was in- formed by a colleague at Stirling University that a shooting had taken place at the school.

He headed to Dunblane in a friend’s car and was taken to a hotel where families of Sophie’s classmates were gathered.

6
Mick with Sophie on one of their road tripsCredit: supplied
 

6
Dad with Sophie in the summer of 1995Credit: supplied
He recalls: “It was in the hotel that we were told the victims were all in one class. Everyone was so worried.

“We were then told to assemble at a house next door to the school entrance and that’s where I met up with other parents in the class.

“I think we were so shocked and numbed by what may have happened. It was incomprehensible.

“There was no texting, no internet, just a blind hope. The people outside knew more than we did.”

The parents sat in limbo for hours before being taken to the school’s staff room to be told the news they had been fearing.

Mick says: “A plain-clothes police officer said, ‘There’s been a shooting incident, 16 children have been killed.’

“At that moment I knew Sophie had gone. They then confirmed that. I went numb.”

In the days after the massacre, Mick reflected on the promise he had made to his wife before her death — that he would protect Sophie.

He says: “I told Barbara I would try my best to look after Sophie.

“I felt I’d let Barbara down, but I now know there was nothing I could have done.”

Mick became involved with the Snowdrop petition — named after the only flower in bloom at the time of the shootings — which called on the Government to rid the UK of handguns.

He also founded the Gun Control Network, a non-profit group calling for tighter gun laws.

6
Mass killer Thomas Hamilton, who shot dead 16 schoolchildren and their teacherCredit: Reuters
 

6
The tragic Primary 1 class at Dunblane Primary School alongside their teacher Gwen MayoCredit: AFP – Getty
He says: “It gave me renewed purpose. Soon I was in Westminster with the other families.

“We met Michael Howard, John Major and then Tony Blair and Jack Straw.”

The petition was successful and, in 1997, the Firearms Act prohibited the private ownership of most handguns.

Mick says: “I am very proud about what happened.

“All the families of Dunblane pulled together.”

Mick features in Dunblane: How Britain Banned Handguns, which is being shown on BBC Two Scotland at 9pm tonight, and 9pm Thursday in the rest of UK.

He moved away from Dunblane a year after the attack, but will return for the 30th anniversary.

He says: “I will go to the memorial garden and think of Sophie.

“I’ll meet up with friends and other parents. But there won’t be a ceremony.”

One person he will not give a thought to is former Scout leader Hamilton, saying it “would be a wasted emotion”.

Despite the UK being in a “better place” on gun crime than in 1996, Mick says there should be tighter controls, especially around shotgun licensing.

He adds: “We should never give into the gun lobby.”

Mick also set up the Sophie North Charitable Trust, which runs an annual Sophie Snowdrop raffle.

He says: “Sophie has a snowdrop named after her. It’s a nice way of keeping her name alive.

“Even after 30 years, some things can catch you out. I love remembering Sophie.”