The mother of a murder victim who campaigned to introduce Helen’s Law has described the death of her daughter’s killer as a “great relief.”
Marie McCourt, the mother of Helen McCourt of Merseyside, has said she now expects someone related to the murderer Ian Simms to reveal where she hid her daughter’s body after her death.
Pub owner Ian Simms was jailed for life after being convicted of the February 1988 murder of Helen McCourt, 22.
Simms was released from prison in 2020 after 32 years in prison despite never revealing the location of Helen’s body.
Ian Simms could be considered for release in February 2004, but was released from prison in 2020.
Earlier that year, Helen’s family tried to overturn the parole board’s decision to release her, but High Court judges rejected her.
Reports say Simms died last week, but the cause of death has not yet been given.
More than 30 years ago, Simms strangled Helen on her way home from work in Billinge.
Since Helen’s death, her mother Marie McCourt has fought tirelessly to make the “Helen’s Law” a reality.
It is a law that could stop murderers who refuse to reveal the whereabouts of their victims coming out of prison.
Mrs McCourt, from St Helens in Merseyside, told the Mirror: “It is a great relief to know that this man has finally been wiped out of this land.
“He has what he deserves.
“I hope now that you may have talked to someone in prison or maybe one of your friends or family who may have been too scared to show up when you were alive, do it now.
“I’m just praying now for someone to have some details of where he said he had done it.
“It breaks my heart, but not just mine, but all the families that have had loved ones.
“It’s hard to lose a child to illness, it’s worse when someone deliberately takes their life.”
He added that he lived in fear when he was released from prison with a label placed in 2020.
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