Helen McCourt's mum has issued a plea to the friends and family of her daughter's killer after his death this weekend.
Former pub landlord Ian Simms, 66, strangled 22-year-old Helen as she walked home from work in Billinge, St Helens, in 1988 but has never revealed where her body is. The 64-year-old was released from prison in February 2020 after the Parole Board ruled him fit for freedom before his death over the weekend, the Mirror Online reports.
In a final insult to the victim’s family, evil Simms took the secret of where he dumped the 22-year-old insurance clerk to his grave. But Marie vowed never to give up looking for her daughter.
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Marie has said she now hopes that someone connected to Simms will come forward and reveal where he hid her body. The 78-year-old launched her Helen’s Law campaign along with the Mirror to make it harder for killers to get parole if they refuse to reveal where their victims are hidden.
Marie was told yesterday lunchtime Simms had died on Friday, aged 66. She said: “It’s a great relief knowing that this man is at last wiped off this earth. He’s got what he deserved. I’m hoping now maybe he spoke to somebody in prison or maybe one of his friends or family who were perhaps too scared to come forward when he was alive, will do so now.
“I just pray now that somebody may have some details of where he said he had done it. It breaks my heart but not just mine but all families who’ve had loved ones taken. It’s hard to lose a child through illness, it’s worse when someone deliberately takes her life.
"But not to be able to have a little grave for her, everybody, even killers have a right to have a grave or something in an area where you can go and put flowers. We can’t do that.
"I can’t give up. It’s just so very, very, sad that he would not reveal where he buried Helen. It’s heartbreaking. We have to stop these killers taking victims and preventing their families from saying a last goodbye to them.”
Former pub landlord Simms killed Helen as she walked home from work in Billinge. He was convicted on DNA evidence in 1989 but released on parole in February 2020. Helen’s Law came in later, meaning it was too late to get justice for Marie by keeping him locked up.
The grieving mum told how she still searches for her daughter’s body. Marie said there is a certain area of the North West where they believe her final resting place lies.
It had been pinned down with clay found on Simms’ jeans and boots and in his car. Marie said: “We still go out looking, not every weekend now but we have people helping us in these areas. We will probably still do that.”
It is believed Simms collapsed on Friday in "supervised" accommodation but no official cause has been given. Marie, of St Helens, Merseyside, told how she lived in fear when Simms was released from jail, with a tag on.
She said: “I was worried he would sneak up here. He was not allowed to come within a 50 mile radius of where we live. That exclusion zone included the areas we have been searching.
"But it would give me sleepless nights. I would have palpitations when I was out seeing someone who looked like him.”
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