Family still feel the pain after 20 years as daughter’s killers freed
A FAMILY has spoken out about the pain and grief two decades on after their daughter was tortured and killed by a gang.
Angela Pearce, 18, was held for days in a Leeds flat by a feral gang in 1998 before being killed and buried in a shallow grave.
Now, 20 years to the day since the discovery of Angela’s body in a disused cemetery in Mabgate, her mother Irene Simmons said “never a day goes by” when they do not think of her – and branded as “scum” the five young murderers who stole her jewellery and enjoyed cheap, twisted kicks.
The family’s agony at losing Angela was compounded in the most tragic circumstances four years ago when her younger sister, Nicola, died at 32.
Mrs Simmons, 64, from East End Park, says Nicola “never got over” the murder of her sister, who was diagnosed with mental health problems in her midteens.
The grieving mother says she also has to live with the knowledge that three of Angela’s killers are now free, with the other two expected to be moved to an open prison shortly. Speaking on behalf of her ex-husband, Angela’s father Stephen Pearce, and the rest of her family, Mrs Simmons said: “It feels like only yesterday (that we lost her) and there is never a day goes by without us thinking about our darling daughter, although it is hard to think about the good times because of what they did to her.
“Our family are still traumatised and angry about the scum who tortured Angela to death, all for her jewellery and their own gratification.”
Paying tribute to her daughter, Mrs Simmons said: “Angela was a beautiful, fun-loving girl and always had a smile.
“She had a good sense of humour and loved buying clothes and jewellery.”
Angela’s killers were Mark Francom, Christopher Bevis, Nolene Harker and sisters Claire and Meina Latif. They were all aged between 17 and 23 at the time of their conviction in 1999.
Mrs Simmons said she had been informed by the authorities that Harker and the Latif sisters had recently been released from jail.
A move to an open prison, meanwhile, beckons for Francom and Bevis.