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Victim's mother will face killer Killer is a 'coward' says mother
(about 20 hours later)
A woman is coming face-to-face with the man who was convicted of murdering her daughter 21 years ago. A mother has expressed her disappointment that she could not confront the man who murdered her daughter at his parole hearing.
Helen McCourt, 22, from Billinge, near St Helens, vanished in 1988 after calling her mother to tell her when she would be home from work in Liverpool.Helen McCourt, 22, from Billinge, near St Helens, vanished in 1988 after calling her mother to tell her when she would be home from work in Liverpool.
Local pub landlord Ian Simms was convicted by overwhelming DNA evidence, but her body has never been found.Local pub landlord Ian Simms was convicted by overwhelming DNA evidence, but her body has never been found.
Her mother Marie McCourt will speak at his parole hearing on Friday as part of a pilot Home Office scheme. Her mother said he was a coward after he refused to meet her at the hearing.
"What we are allowed to do is say how the crime has impacted and affected our lives and how we will feel if that prisoner is released," she told the BBC. Simms, who is serving his life sentence at HMP Garth in Leyland, Lancashire, has refused to say where he buried Helen McCourt and insists he is innocent.
For 21 years I've gone through hell. I don't have a grave to go to Marie McCourt Marie McCourt was due to come face to face with Simms - who ran the George and Dragon in Billinge, near Wigan
I wanted him to realise the harm he has done by remaining silent and how that is an ongoing torture to me Marie McCourt
His decades of denial have tormented her 65-year-old mother and her family who have spent years searching for her body.
"He wasn't there because he is a coward," said Mrs McCourt.
"He is a bully and a coward, I really wanted him to come face to face with my family.
"I wanted him to be there to listen to my submissions - I was very disappointed. I wanted him to realise the harm he has done by remaining silent and how that is an ongoing torture to me.
"But we have to accept what happened - even the parole board judge had no say over making him attend."
'Decent burial'
Mrs McCourt, 65, is part of the group Support after Murder and Manslaughter (SAMM) Merseyside, which supports those attending such parole hearings.Mrs McCourt, 65, is part of the group Support after Murder and Manslaughter (SAMM) Merseyside, which supports those attending such parole hearings.
But she has never attended a hearing as a victim's relative and said she was nervous about taking part.
"It's not something I'm really looking forward to obviously and it's important, I think, for people who want to have this voice to be able to take up the opportunity," said Mrs McCourt.
"I have great faith and I do put great faith in my prayers and that's what I will be doing all the time until I actually go in that room."
Helen McCourt's body has never been foundHelen McCourt's body has never been found
Mrs McCourt's main focus is to find the whereabouts of her daughter's body, something that Simms has never divulged. Mrs McCourt wanted to speak to Simms to find the whereabouts of her daughter's body, something that he has never divulged.
The family has used divers, drained ponds, crawled through old mine shafts and used a digger to excavate drain ditches in their search for Helen.The family has used divers, drained ponds, crawled through old mine shafts and used a digger to excavate drain ditches in their search for Helen.
"It has been very difficult to deal with because in one way I've not had that opportunity to grieve and for it to really sink in."It has been very difficult to deal with because in one way I've not had that opportunity to grieve and for it to really sink in.
"For 21 years I've gone through hell. I don't have a grave to go to."For 21 years I've gone through hell. I don't have a grave to go to.
"I will never give up searching and wanting to find Helen's body. That is the most important thing in my life now, to find where Helen is and give her that decent burial."I will never give up searching and wanting to find Helen's body. That is the most important thing in my life now, to find where Helen is and give her that decent burial.
"That's the only thing I've ever wanted from Ian Simms and it's something he should be considering really seriously now."That's the only thing I've ever wanted from Ian Simms and it's something he should be considering really seriously now.
"I will fight and fight and fight for Helen's remains to be found.""I will fight and fight and fight for Helen's remains to be found."
Simms' parole hearing is taking place at Garth Prison in Leyland on Friday.