Marie McCourt, whose daughter Helen was abducted and murdered in 1988, is now advocating for new criminal charges against killers who refuse to disclose the locations of their victims' remains. This follows her successful campaign for "Helen's Law," which mandates that the Parole Board consider a killer's silence when deciding on their release.
Helen McCourt, 22, disappeared on February 9, 1988, while traveling home from work in Liverpool. Her mother reported her missing, and police later arrested pub landlord Ian Simms. Evidence, including traces of Helen's blood and one of her earrings found in Simms' car, led to his conviction in 1989. Simms maintained his innocence, claiming he was framed and that someone else committed the murder and disposed of the body.
Despite the conviction, Helen's body was never found, a fact that fueled Marie McCourt's extensive campaign. She consulted private investigators and psychics in her search for her daughter's remains. Simms, who refused to reveal the body's location, was eventually released on parole in 2020 and died in 2022.
Marie McCourt's advocacy led to the Prisoners (Disclosure of Information About Victims) Act, commonly known as Helen's Law, which received royal assent in 2020. This law requires the Parole Board to take into account an offender's refusal to reveal information about a victim's whereabouts when considering parole. The law has already contributed to five parole applications being denied, including that of Glyn Razzell, who was jailed for murdering his estranged wife Linda Razzell, whose body also remains undiscovered.
Now, McCourt and freelance journalist Fiona Duffy, co-author of "Justice for Helen: A Mother's Quest to Find Her Murdered Daughter," are pushing for what they call "Helen's Law Mark II." This proposed expansion would introduce additional criminal charges for offenses such as preventing a burial, obstructing a coroner, and hiding a body. Duffy explained that these are ancient common law offenses, and McCourt has been told that charging offenders with them is not in the public interest, as the murder conviction is considered sufficient.
Fiona Duffy highlighted the ongoing psychological torment families face when a victim's body is not recovered. She described this prolonged uncertainty as a form of torture, preventing families from experiencing closure and leading to persistent complex bereavement disorder, a recognized condition where individuals struggle to come to terms with the loss and cannot move forward with their lives.