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The case is a rare example in which a murder conviction has been obtained without the presence of a body, and was among the first in the UK to use DNA fingerprinting. In 2015, McCourt's mother Marie began a campaign to require convicted murderers to reveal the location of their victims' remains before being considered for parole.
Jan 26, 2021 · One of Marie's favourite family photos with Helen and Michael as teenagers. Hope for families of 'no body' murder victims bolstered by new Helen's Law. Helen's Law finally comes into force...
- Emily Retter
Dec 27, 2022 · The picture of Helen McCourt, posed side-on with her blue eyes innocently turned towards the camera, is one that has been burned into the collective memory of Merseyside.
Feb 6, 2020 · Helen McCourt disappeared in Merseyside in 1988 and her body has not been found, after searches were carried out. Killer Ian Simms has been released from prison despite never revealing where he...
- Falling Out
- Indisputable DNA Evidence
- ‘Nasty’ Letter from Killer
- Parole Board Offers ‘Sympathy’
The case is a rare example where a murder conviction has been found without the presence of a body and it was one of the first in the UK to be solved by using DNA. Helen disappeared shortly after getting off a bus less than five hundred yards from her home in the village of Billinge, St Helens, Merseyside, on 9 February 1989. Marie last spoke to he...
Police found traces of blood in Simms’ car and a woman’s opal and sapphire earring – identical to ones given to Helen for her 21st birthday – in the boot. When confronted, Simms said the blood must have been from his dog. Helen’s handbag, coat, jeans and scarf were later found in on a riverbank in Irlam, about twenty miles away, along with a flex w...
After a 15-day trial, Simms was sentenced to a minimum of 16 years. But the real sentence has been for Marie, Helen’s brother Michael, her father William and step dad John – who have endured more than 30 years of torment not knowing where her remains are, and being robbed of the chance to give her a funeral. “For 15 days I sat in that court room fo...
Despite Simms’ refusal to cooperate, in February it was decided he would be allowed out of prison for short periods of time. His successful parole hearing was the seventh time he’d been considered for release. “The parole judge accepts there is no question of his guilt. He cannot even admit what he’s done, perhaps to himself. So he is still dangero...
Nov 9, 2023 · A local pub landlord, Ian Simms, was handed a life sentence in 1989 for Helen McCourt's murder despite her body never having been found. He was released in 2020 and died in 2022.
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Nov 8, 2023 · Marie McCourt, the mother of 22-year-old Helen McCourt, who was killed after vanishing near their home in St Helens, Merseyside, in 1988, was made an MBE for services to the families of murdered...
