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Jan 26, 2021 · When 22-year-old Helen McCourt disappeared heading home from work on February 9, 1988, her mum Marie’s lifelong quest for answers started. Local pub landlord Ian Simms was convicted of Helen’s...
- Emily Retter
- 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...
Feb 5, 2020 · Marie McCourt (left) with her daughter Helen who was murdered by pub landlord Ian Simms (Image: PA) Marie McCourt has campaigned tirelessly against Ian Simms' release unless he reveals where...
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...
On 9 February 1988, Helen McCourt, a 22-year-old British insurance clerk from Bootle, Merseyside, disappeared in the village of Billinge, Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, shortly after disembarking from a bus less than 500 yards from her home. [1] Her body has never been found. [2]
Jun 28, 2022 · The mother of a murder victim whose body has never been found is hoping new information will come to light - now her daughter's killer has died. Marie McCourt is wondering whether friends or family of Ian Simms, who may have been too scared to speak out while he was alive, will do so now.
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Feb 6, 2020 · Helen McCourt was murdered by Ian Simms in Billinge, Merseyside, in 1988. A murderer who has refused to reveal the whereabouts of his victim's remains has been released from prison.
