Justice Secretary in move to challenge release of killer who hid body

An urgent Ministry of Justice (MoJ)  investigation has been launched after murderer Ian Simms was granted parole despite his refusal to reveal the whereabouts of the body of his victim Helen McCourt.

Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, ordered officials to investigate whether the parole board’s decision to release the 63 year old killer could be challenged.

“Robert has asked officials for urgent advice on the case to consider closely whether there are grounds to reconsider the decision,” said a source.

The MoJ has three weeks before Simms is due to be released. Ministers have already announced a proposed new law, named after Helen, placing a legal duty on the parole board to take account of a killer’s failure to say where they had hidden a victim’s body.

Her mother, Marie, who campaigned for the law, had hoped it would be introduced before his release but was thwarted by the election. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, has pledged to fast-track it through Parliament if the Conservatives secure a majority in the election.

Mrs McCourt, who gave evidence to the parole board, said she was “horrified” and “in shock” over his impending release: “This man is a danger. I just wonder if some of these people who feel that they’re safe to be released...it’s okay for them, they are not going to live by them.”

She added: "If Helen's Law had been on the statute books right now those judges would have to really make sure in their decision to release him that he would be safe. They would have to go into that, they would have to obey that law and it hasn't happened.”

Announcing its decision, the board said it accepted Simms’ refusal to reveal the location of Helen’s body not only showed a lack of empathy but also continued to cause “distress and misery” to her family.

But it decided the “considerable change” in his behaviour since the killing 31 years ago and the fact that he had not been involved in any violence or drug misuse for many years meant he “met the test for release.”

The board said Simms would be released subject to conditions including living at a designated address, being "of good behaviour" and reporting for supervision appointments.

Simms was sentenced to life in 1989, with a minimum tariff of 16 years, which made him eligible for release in 2004. This was his seventh attempt to secure parole.

Mrs McCourt has pleaded with him to tell her the whereabouts of her daughter's body ever since the insurance clerk vanished on her way home from work in 1988.

But the pub landlord, who was convicted by a jury on overwhelming DNA evidence of the 22-year-old's abduction and murder, has always maintained his innocence.

The Parole Board said it "carefully considered" Simms' failure to disclose the location of Mrs McCourt's body and concluded there was "no prospect of Simms ever disclosing the whereabouts of his victim even if he were kept in prison until he died."

The board said Simms was “so heavily invested in presenting himself” as innocent that he would avoid any behaviour “inconsistent with this presentation of himself.” Psychological assessments to guide their decision had taken account of this, said the board.

This had meant that Simmons had not actually completed any accredited offending behaviour programmes because of the denial,” it added. But, it had to consider “other relevant risk factors” and could not view his denial as “a necessarily determining factor” in deciding his release.

Conor McGinn, who campaigned as her MP for the law change, 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.”