Mum in burial plea for Helen

NEW HOPE FOR JUSTICE

THE mother of murdered Helen McCourt prays her body will finally be found more than 30 years on.

Grieving Marie, 74, is desperate to give her daughter a proper burial.

She said: “I can never come to terms with the fact that… will I ever be able to give Helen a burial?

“I just hope and pray to God that she can be found and she can be put to rest.

“No-one ever wants to bury a child. But she deserves a proper, peaceful rest.”

Insurance clerk Helen was 22 when she was killed by pub landlord Ian Simms in Billinge, Merseyside, in 1988.

The case made history after Simms became the first person to be convicted of murder in Britain without a body being found. Police matched DNA from Helen’s parents to blood found at Simms’ flat. But, to this day, the killer has refused to reveal where he hid her body.

Marie said: “He can prevent me from giving her a proper burial but he can’t prevent me from having her name in the church graveyard. And it will be there for as long as the church and grounds are there.”

Simms was handed a life sentence for the murder of Helen.

Marie said: “I thought about his family – his wife, his mother and two little children. And I thought, ‘I would rather be the mother of a murdered child than be the mother of a murderous killer’.”

For the past three years, Marie has campaigned for new legislation to be introduced in honour of her daughter.

Helen’s Law would mean killers who refuse to help police find their victims would be refused parole.

Marie said: “Helen’s Law is there to prevent killers from hiding their victims’ bodies and putting families through hell.

“No body; no parole.” Marie speaks out on When Missing Turns To Murder, which airs tomorrow at 9pm on Crime + Investigation.