When ‘Helen’s Law’ received royal assent in 2020, bereaved parents of murdered children celebrated the news. Finally, parole boards had a statutory obligation to consider postponing prisoners’ release if they refused to reveal the location of their victims’ remains.
But the death of Ian Simms, who was released two years ago, despite never revealing the location of Helen McCourt, has left people considering the efficacy of the law, two years after it was passed.
Jackie Summerford of the Aylesbury Estate, whose daughter Bonnie Barrett was murdered in 2007, helped get the law passed through her own campaigning. Having seen Simms released, and fearing that her daughter’s murderer Derek Brown will see freedom without revealing Bonnie’s location, she understandably feels let down by the law.
“If I had just one bone I would bury it”: Mother of murdered daughter says Helen’s Law is too soft
However, it’s hard to see where the law can go from here. Threatening someone with indefinite detention could be a breach of Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. There’s also a risk, however tiny, that those imprisoned genuinely don’t know where the body is and spend life in behind bars for failing to disclose information they don’t have.
Perhaps, if a change in the law is difficult, improved support for families left bereft in such tragic circumstances could be considered. Jackie says she intends to begin campaigning again in the future. Whatever her proposals, we hope she is, at the very least, listened to.