Mum’s shock as killer to be freed
THE mother of murder victim Helen McCourt has said she is “horrified” by the Parole Board’s decision that her daughter’s killer has “met the test for release”, despite never telling police where he hid her body.
Marie McCourt was shaking with anger as she tsaid she was “in shock” after the ruling, announced yesterday, three decades after the 22-year-old went missing.
The decision came after her campaign to keep killers behind bars until they lead police to the victim’s body – dubbed Helen’s Law – failed to be ratified before Parliament was dissolved.
Speaking at the family home in Billinge, Merseyside, Ms McCourt said: “I’m just in a state of shock to be honest. I got a call this morning and was told he (Ian Simms) was being released. I was just in shock. Well, I’m still trying to deal with it.
“I’m horrified by it, I’m horrified by it. This man is a danger, you know.
“I just wonder if some of these people who feel that they’re safe to be released... it’s OK for them, they are not going to live by them. But the people in the area, they will have to put up with that.”
The final decision on when Simms is released will be made by the Prison Service, although there will now be a three-week period during which either the Justice Secretary or even the killer himself can appeal.
It means Simms will not be released before December 12, the Parole Board said. The decision is subject to a series of conditions including to reside at a designated address, to be “of good behaviour” and to report for supervision appointments.
Its decision summary said Simms was deemed suitable for release due to factors including the “considerable change in his behaviour”.
He will have to wear a tagging device to monitor his whereabouts, observe a curfew and avoid any contact with the family of his victim.
Responding to the decision, Conor McGinn, the Labour Party candidate standing for re-election as MP for St Helens North, said: “For Marie to have won her campaign for Helen’s Law, only to see her own daughter’s killer released before it is introduced, is heartbreaking and perverse.
“To free Helen McCourt’s killer now is an affront to justice and decency, and a betrayal of the commitments made to the McCourt family. I have contacted the Justice Secretary to ask for his urgent intervention. This man, like other murderers, must stay behind bars until he gives information about the location of his victims’ remains.”
Pub landlord Simms, who was convicted by a jury on overwhelming DNA evidence of Ms McCourt’s abduction and murder, has been serving his life sentence at HMP Garth in Leyland, Lancashire.
He has always maintained his innocence over the death of 22-year-old Ms McCourt, an insurance clerk who vanished on her way home from work in Liverpool in 1988.