Deceased/Not Found UK - Helen McCourt, 22, Billinge, Merseyside, 9 Feb 1988 *I. Simms guilty*

[Legally Bland]

Ian Simms, the killer of Helen McCourt who has never revealed the whereabouts of her body, is to be released after the parole board rejected an appeal by the Justice Secretary, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

In a four page judgement, Sir David Calvert-Smith, the parole board chairman, said Robert Buckland’s request for Simms’ release to be reconsidered was “refused” paving the way for the murderer’s release after more than 30 years in jail.

Exclusive: Killer of Helen McCourt to be released as parole board rejects Justice Secretary's appeal for rethink

 

[Alyce]

Absolutely mad... I simply cannot understand why the Justice Secretary has to make a *request* for Simms to be kept in prison and the parole board can over rule this.

 

[jaejae]

A Sky News report on the developments in this case:

Helen McCourt killer Ian Simms to be released from prison, Parole Board says

A BBC report:

Killer who kept body location secret to be freed

 

[Angleterre]

A Sky News report on the developments in this case:

Helen McCourt killer Ian Simms to be released from prison, Parole Board says

A BBC report:

Killer who kept body location secret to be freed

So very wrong that he is allowed to be free whilst Helen’s mum still searches for her.
I am personally invested in this case as her son was so appreciative of the work done by the police and so in awe that he joined the police himself and I worked alongside him
Also, at the time this happened, I had just joined the police too and my uncle was the drayman at the pub that Sims was the landlord of and he knew him well from the perspective of delivering barrels of ale to him x

 

[jaejae]

So very wrong that he is allowed to be free whilst Helen’s mum still searches for her.
I am personally invested in this case as her son was so appreciative of the work done by the police and so in awe that he joined the police himself and I worked alongside him
Also, at the time this happened, I had just joined the police too and my uncle was the drayman at the pub that Sims was the landlord of and he knew him well from the perspective of delivering barrels of ale to him x

I watched a documentary on this case just recently and we all make judgements about the evidence and I feel he was guilty and knows where the body is and so I have a great deal of sympathy for the mother who has been robbed of her daughter forever and why should someone who has robbed another of their life ever get out to lead theirs again. if you commit a murder at twenty and get out at 40 years old or 45 years old that is still young in the big scheme of things to have a good life and this seems wrong in many cases. I just want to make a point in general about the disclosing where the body is law and this is from what I have seen LE are not perfect and make mistakes and what if you had not committed a crime and therefore cannot tell anyone where the body is do you remain incarcerated permanently. Interesting points about being a policeman and knowing the area. I think the vast majority of LE or Police are honest and do a good job in protecting the public but occasionally they do make mistakes. Thanks.

 

[jaejae]

:Here is another recent report about the developments in this case:

Helen McCourt's family fight to keep killer behind bars

 

[jaejae]

Here is another recent report about the developments in this case:

Legal bid to block Helen McCourt killer's release

 

[Littlegreenlady]

‘Give me my child back’, Helen McCourt killer told

A mother who campaigned for more than 30 years to find out where the remains of her daughter are hidden has told her killer to "give her child back".

 

[Littlegreenlady]

Helen McCourt murderer released from prison

A murderer who has refused to reveal the whereabouts of his victim's remains has been released from prison.

The mother of Helen McCourt, who disappeared in Merseyside in 1988, said she felt "numb" when she was told her daughter's killer had been freed.

Ian Simms, now 63, was convicted of killing the 22-year-old, whose body has never been found despite searches.

Simms has been released after Ms McCourt's mother Marie lost a legal bid on Tuesday to keep him behind bars.

 

[alb1on]

Absolutely mad... I simply cannot understand why the Justice Secretary has to make a *request* for Simms to be kept in prison and the parole board can over rule this.

It is because we have the rule of law and due process. The Justice Secretary has no legal authority to make the decision in such cases for the simple reason that to give a politician such powers risks the abuse of that power for political reasons, as we see all too often in jurisdictions where politicians have such powers.

 

[Littlegreenlady]

It is because we have the rule of law and due process. The Justice Secretary has no legal authority to make the decision in such cases for the simple reason that to give a politician such powers risks the abuse of that power for political reasons, as we see all too often in jurisdictions where politicians have such powers.

I was listening to a podcast about the Moors murders recently and they said that Lord Longford's involvement in trying to get Myra Hindley's parole approved resulted in changes about how much influence politicians would have with the prison and parole boards. I'm not sure how true this is, but certainly today we see less influence and more need for politicians to request rather than demand certain prisoners are kept inside

 

[alb1on]

It is easy to see why political involvement in release and other judicial decisions is unwise by looking at the appalling situation in the USA. There are numerous examples of elected politicians, with their eyes on the next ballot, overruling release decisions by parole boards. Ironically, the best known case is by California governors (most recently Newsom) three times overruling the parole board decisions to free the Manson follower, Van Houten - and this despite the fact that a Democratic candidate in California could be exposed for any sort of misbehaviour and still be elected. Politics has no place in judicial matters.

I should make clear that I am not picking on the US system. It has very good elements (a written constitution which is safeguarded by a federal judiciary). But its reliance on elected officials (from Sheriffs to district attorneys and local judges and upwards) makes it badly exposed to political cowardice and corruption. The UK system avoids those pitfalls (mainly) but suffers from the lack of clarity caused by the absence of a written constitution.

The answer in the McCourt case lies in legislation to prevent release in such cases (rather than giving discretion to an individual politician). But even in the event of such legislation it cannot be retrospectively applied to those already sentenced. Such a precedent would only open the floodgates for more retrospective legislation.

 

[Ann Blyth]

It is easy to see why political involvement in release and other judicial decisions is unwise by looking at the appalling situation in the USA. There are numerous examples of elected politicians, with their eyes on the next ballot, overruling release decisions by parole boards. Ironically, the best known case is by California governors (most recently Newsom) three times overruling the parole board decisions to free the Manson follower, Van Houten - and this despite the fact that a Democratic candidate in California could be exposed for any sort of misbehaviour and still be elected. Politics has no place in judicial matters.

I should make clear that I am not picking on the US system. It has very good elements (a written constitution which is safeguarded by a federal judiciary). But its reliance on elected officials (from Sheriffs to district attorneys and local judges and upwards) makes it badly exposed to political cowardice and corruption. The UK system avoids those pitfalls (mainly) but suffers from the lack of clarity caused by the absence of a written constitution.

The answer in the McCourt case lies in legislation to prevent release in such cases (rather than giving discretion to an individual politician). But even in the event of such legislation it cannot be retrospectively applied to those already sentenced. Such a precedent would only open the floodgates for more retrospective legislation.

This above, completely agree.

 

[Alyce]

Helen McCourt murderer released from prison

A murderer who has refused to reveal the whereabouts of his victim's remains has been released from prison.

The mother of Helen McCourt, who disappeared in Merseyside in 1988, said she felt "numb" when she was told her daughter's killer had been freed.

Ian Simms, now 63, was convicted of killing the 22-year-old, whose body has never been found despite searches.

Simms has been released after Ms McCourt's mother Marie lost a legal bid on Tuesday to keep him behind bars.

This is just so desperately sad for Helen's family. The proposed law bearing her name has failed to keep her killer in prison despite his refusal to advise the whereabouts of her body. I really do despair of our justice system sometimes.

 

[Ann Blyth]

This is just so desperately sad for Helen's family. The proposed law bearing her name has failed to keep her killer in prison despite his refusal to advise the whereabouts of her body. I really do despair of our justice system sometimes.

I desperately wanted this law to go through, as I have a personal reason, a dear friend of mine was murdered in 2011 and his murderer was given 30 years imprisonment, but we have no idea where he disposed of the body.

 

[StillDiggin]

It might be to late to find Helen but Helens law has passed parliament. This is really good news .
Helen's Law finally comes into force after 5 year campaign by grieving family

 

[Angleterre]

It might be to late to find Helen but Helens law has passed parliament. This is really good news .
Helen's Law finally comes into force after 5 year campaign by grieving family

Stilldiggin
Thank you so much for updating us here at WS in relation to this.Mrs McCourt is no longer able to see this victory in respect of her daughters case and for her to also note that all her hard work that’s she’s undertaken over the years to progress this law, has finally been recognised in her daughter’s case.
I wish Helens brother Mike was a WS participant then we could ask him how he feels about this as he has lived his sisters disappearance for a very long time, in fact, since he was a young man on the cusp of adulthood when he was so impressed by the work of the Police and in particular the Detectives on his sisters case, that he joined Merseyside Police where I watched him progress in his career .
Let’s hope now that at some stage , Helen is recovered and that this law helps other families who suffer such tragedies....

 

[alb1on]

Whilst this new law has merit, it is exceptionally dangerous in one regard - it is partially retrospective ( prisoners already sentenced prior to the law coming into force will be subject to its effect). No matter how much a law is required it should never be retrospective in any way as the precedent established is bound to be used by corrupt politicians in future.

 

[Angleterre]

Whilst this new law has merit, it is exceptionally dangerous in one regard - it is partially retrospective ( prisoners already sentenced prior to the law coming into force will be subject to its effect). No matter how much a law is required it should never be retrospective in any way as the precedent established is bound to be used by corrupt politicians in future.

How Is it retrospective? Surely if that’s the case then Sims wouldn’t have been released? Or am I getting confused here? Apologies if so ..

 

[alb1on]

How Is it retrospective? Surely if that’s the case then Sims wouldn’t have been released? Or am I getting confused here? Apologies if so ..

In English law it is retrospective to the extent that it changes the sentencing conditions of convicted parties who were sentenced prior to the enacting of the new law. The prospects for and conditions of parole are factors which are relevant to sentencing at the time of conviction. This law applies not only to those being sentenced in future but also to the parole hearings of those sentenced many years ago. Sims was released because the parole board held its hearing and granted him parole before the new law received Royal Assent. If they had delayed until after assent was received then the new law would have applied to Sims.