THE mother of a murder victim is "absolutely devastated" by a court order allowing the killer to speak to a journalist.

The Law Lords' decision overturns a ruling by the Home Secretary forbidding Ian Simms from speaking out.

Former pub landlord Simms, is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Marie McCourt's daughter, Helen, in 1988.

Marie, from Standish Avenue, Billinge, who still spends most weekends searching for Helen's body, attended the appeal hearing at the House of Lords last Thursday.

She told the Star:"This was a bad day for me, but a far worse one for British justice. I am sickened that the Law Lords have seen fit to give this man the right to free speech after the hurt he has caused this family."

The decision followed an appeal by journalist, Bob Wossinden, concerning the cases of Simms and Michael O'Brien, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and robbery in 1988.

A spokesperson for the Prison Service, said: "This judgement gives welcome clarification on when journalists should be permitted to interview serving prisoners. The House of Lords has decided that prisoners are entitled to a face-to-face interview with responsible journalists investigating the safety of their conviction.

"However, they also accepted that a proper foundation for the interview should be laid through correspondence with the prisoner first and such interviews would require careful control and regulation.

"The Prison Service has to balance the importance of ending miscarriages of justice with the need to avoid upsetting victims with sensational media interviews."

Mrs McCourt commented: "I believe Wossinden wants to make a TV programme protesting that Simms' case is a miscarriage of justice, but the so-called evidence he has come up with is complete rubbish. He claims Helen's passport is missing but I have it at home and I actually showed it to him at an earlier court case. He also said Helen had been seen on a train heading south, but the fact that all her clothes were found and accounted for means she must have been travelling stark naked!

"I just hope this turns out to be a hollow victory for Wossinden and Simms because if Wossinden can't prove his case, no TV company will be interested in him.

"What makes me really angry though is that Simms will now be thinking he has scored a victory. Well, I intend to make sure he does not set foot out of prison until he admits his crime and tells us where my daughter's body is."

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