Marie McCourt, a mother whose persistent campaigning led to the enactment of 'Helen's Law,' is now pushing for new legislation that would allow for additional criminal charges against murderers who refuse to reveal the location of their victims' remains.
Helen McCourt, 22, was abducted and murdered by pub landlord Ian Simms on February 9, 1988, as she traveled home from work in Merseyside. Despite overwhelming DNA evidence, Simms maintained his innocence until his death, never disclosing where he disposed of Helen's body. Her remains have never been found.
McCourt's advocacy resulted in 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 consider an offender's refusal to disclose a victim's whereabouts when deciding on their release. The law has already been cited in five parole rejections.
However, McCourt and journalist Fiona Duffy, co-author of "Justice for Helen: A Mother's Quest to Find Her Murdered Daughter," argue that further action is needed. They are campaigning for what they term 'Helen's Law Mark II,' which would introduce new charges for offenses such as preventing a burial, obstructing a coroner, and hiding a body. These are based on ancient common law offenses dating back to the 12th century.
Duffy explained on the Daily Mail's Trial+ podcast that families often describe the ongoing agony of not knowing where their loved ones are buried as a form of torture. She noted that while convictions for murder are secured, offenders are not charged with the subsequent acts of concealing a body or denying families the right to a burial, which can lead to persistent complex bereavement disorder.
Simms, who was convicted in 1989, was freed on parole in 2020 and died in 2022. McCourt's campaign aimed to ensure that killers could not receive parole if they withheld such critical information, a principle now enshrined in Helen's Law. The current push aims to go further, criminalizing the silence itself and seeking to provide families with a greater sense of closure.