Family's anger as killer bids for open prison

Gemma Simpson was killed by Martin Bell in May 2000

The family of a Leeds woman who was beaten to death by a man with a psychotic illness have said they are angry at the possibility he could be moved to an open prison.

Martin Bell attacked Gemma Simpson, 23, with a hammer and stabbed her at his Harrogate flat in May 2000 before dismembering and hiding her body at Brimham Rocks in North Yorkshire.

In 2014, after confessing to a girlfriend, he walked into a police station in Scarborough to admit to the killing before telling officers where he had buried Miss Simpson.

Bell pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years, but this was reduced to 11 years and 205 days because of the time spent in custody.

Gemma’s sister Naomi Carrack believes it would be dangerous to move Bell to an open prison

A parole hearing had been due to take place on Tuesday to decide whether he could be moved to a Category D open prison, where inmates face minimal security and can leave the prison for work and education.

But in a subsequent update it was confirmed the hearing had been postponed until next year.

Miss Simpson’s sister Naomi Carrack said: “He’s actually only served 10 years of his sentence and so unfortunately I had no clue this was coming.

"We’ve kept as much as we can from Mum, although unfortunately we’ve had to share it with her now, in the last week.”

Bell had been sectioned in a mental health hospital in August 1999 but was released six weeks before attacking Miss Simpson, telling her that God wanted him to kill her.

A psychiatric report carried out after Bell’s arrest diagnosed him with a psychotic illness similar to schizophrenia.

Ms Carrack told the BBC she believed it would be dangerous to move Bell to an open prison.

“We know from his trial that he was always going to have a mental health issue so I find it very difficult to take in that he’s suddenly now all fixed, when it was cited at the time of sentencing that he would always be a danger to the public,” she said.

Krista Simpson said her family were facing a life sentence

Gemma’s younger sister, Krista Simpson, said she had no confidence Bell’s mental illness had been properly managed in prison.

Ms Simpson said: “It’s a lifelong condition and psychiatrists at the time of the trial said that.

“There’s nothing to say that over the past 10 years his condition has been monitored, assessed or that he’s been trialled on medication to see if it works.”

Ms Simpson said she felt it was Gemma’s family rather than Bell serving a life sentence.

She said: “We’ve had 24 years of this pain, of missing Gemma and finding out horrifically what happened to her. He hasn’t served half of that.”

Ms Carrack wants Bell to serve his full sentence in a maximum security prison.

“It just all seems so soon. It’s only been 10 years and already he’s getting this opportunity to get on with his life and my sister is never going to have that," she said.

'System needs to change'

The family have been working with the Hundred Families charity, which supports those affected by killings by people with mental illnesses.

Julian Hendy from the charity said: “Gemma was killed in such an awful and brutal way.

“The subsequent court case and NHS investigations raised serious questions about the ability of mental health services and others to keep patients and the public safe.”

He added: “Bell is asking for a move to an open prison after just 10 years. This cannot be right.

“There needs to be a better balance with far more openness and transparency. The system does need to change.”

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: “A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

“Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.”

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