Digging for my daughter
Mum’s lifelong pledge to lay Helen to rest
Learning to cope with false hope can be tough
THE brave mum of murder victim Helen McCourt has launched a fresh search for her daughter’s body.
Marie McCourt, 76, recently won her campaign for the introduction of a “No Body, No Parole” law in her daughter’s name.
The legislation – due to be introduced in next month’s Queen’s Speech – means killers who hide their victims may never be released.
But Marie is determined not to pin all her hopes on Helen’s murderer Ian Simms, now in his 60s, giving up his secrets.
She has started re-examining evidence from his 1989 trial with the help of Britain’s top search expert Peter Faulding.
Marie said: “I will never give up hope of finding Helen.
“I want to lay her to rest so I know she’s at peace and not lying in some horrible place, alone.”
Marie and her husband John Sandwell, 72, carried out two two-day searches with Faulding.
The new investigation centres on woodland near Rixton Clay Pits, 15 miles from Helen’s home in Wigan.
It was here that a spade in the possession of pub landlord Simms was discovered in a flooded claypit.
Faulding has worked on high profile cases including that of Scottish serial killer Peter Tobin and the search for murdered schoolgirl April Jones.
At the site on Wednesday, Faulding, 57, said: “Everything suggests to me that Helen is buried within 200m of where we are standing now.
“The spade was located by police divers in water 18ft deep – it was never meant to be found. Now it’s just a matter of piecing the jigsaw together to find her.”
Insurance clerk Helen was 22 when she was murdered by Simms while walking home from work in 1988.
The killer was jailed for life the following year after police built up an unassailable case despite the absence of a body.
Marie and Faulding have carried out a review of the evidence presented during the trial. They believe Simms committed the murder at his George and Dragon pub before placing her body in his car.
Detectives recovered one of her earrings and traces of her blood from the boot.
Witnesses’ sightings suggest Simms then drove south-east to Rixton Clay Pits, where he held a fishing licence in another name.
Clay was found on the near side and wheels of his car, suggesting the married dad of two followed a track to the pits.
His clothes, dumped on a footpath two miles away, were also covered in clay.
During the second day of searching the woods, decadesold plastic and buried leaves and wood were found – proving the earth had been disturbed.
But, ultimately, nothing could link the site to Helen.
For Marie, the search was another false dawn in the hunt for her daughter.
She said: “I’ve just gone through it so many times, learning to cope with false hope can be very tough.”
Marie added: “Recently, I was in the kitchen and said, ‘Alexa, play 50s rock and roll’.
“I found my myself dancing around the place while tidying up – I hadn’t done that in decades.
“I’ve felt a lift this year, it is like a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders.
“Because of the new law, I feel Helen’s death hasn’t been in vain.
“But I will still carry on searching for her as long as I’m able, until my last breath.”
MARIE McCOURT ON NOT FINDING A BODY