Search results
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.
Jan 26, 2021 · On a stormy night in February 1988, 22-year-old Helen McCourt left work early but never arrived home for the tea her mother Marie had waiting. Helen, a clerk at the Royal Insurance in Liverpool,...
- Emily Retter
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...
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.
- 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...
Jun 28, 2022 · Mrs McCourt's 22-year-old daughter vanished on her way home from work in St Helens, Merseyside, in 1988 and pub landlord Simms was jailed for life a year later after being found guilty of...
People also ask
What happened to Mrs McCourt's daughter?
Who is Marie McCourt?
Who was Helen McCourt?
Who killed Mrs McCourt?
Who killed Helen McCourt?
What happened to Helen McCourt?
Nov 9, 2023 · Her daughter Helen McCourt, 22, was killed after vanishing near their home in St Helens, Merseyside in 1988. Mrs McCourt has since campaigned to deny killers parole for failing to tell the ...
