The impact statements

MUM MARIE

I AND my family have been serving a life sentence since my daughter, Helen, was murdered.

I still have recurring nightmares about Helen calling out to me for help – and not being there for her.

More than 31 years after murdering my daughter, Ian Simms still denies me and my family the right to give Helen a proper Christian burial.

This has been a constant source of heartache to me and my family.

For many years family, friends and members of our community assisted me every weekend in my search for Helen’s body.

Our search included crawling along sewer pipes, investigating disused mine shafts and searching quarry pits.

It was frequently a dangerous activity and we would return home, cold, tired and exhausted.

I was driven by the thought that we would eventually find her.

Sadly, all our efforts have, as yet, been in vain.

Recently I have embarked on fresh searches with the assistance of an international specialist search expert.

I pray his knowledge and expertise will give me the answer that Ian Simms refuses to give.

Only when I am able to give my daughter a dignified burial, and have a grave to visit and place flowers, will my heart be at peace.

Seeing Helen’s friends, now married with children, is a constant reminder of what might have been had she been alive.

In launching Helen’s Law, I used the phrase: To lose a loved one is devastating. To lose a loved one to murder is horrific. To be denied their funeral causes unimaginable suffering.

I am left to suffer the consequences of his crime until the day that I die.

BROTHER MICHAEL

HELEN was everything to me – she was the perfect big sister and best friend.

We were both starting out in life and I thought she would be there for ever.

Helen and I always celebrated Christmas and New Year together.

I find it hard to enjoy these times, knowing my big sister is out there somewhere, instead of here with the family she loved so much.

My children would have adored their Aunty Helen and she would have idolised them.

For years, finding Helen was all I lived for. I risked my own personal safety many times while wading along canals, through frozen lakes and crawling along disused mine shafts – always knowing that the end result could be the discovery of my own sister’s remains.

Simms is a violent person and I have real concerns about his actions against us should he be released.