Helen McCourt's mother ordered to pay killer £40,000 legal fees

Marie McCourt has campaigned to introduce Helen's Law in memory of her daughter

A murdered woman's mother has been told to pay her daughter's killer £40,000 in legal fees.

Marie McCourt has been ordered to pay Ian Simms' costs after a High Court bid to stop his release from prison failed.

Simms was jailed in 1989 for the murder of 22-year-old Helen McCourt on Merseyside and has never revealed where her body was hidden.

The court ruled money raised through Mrs McCourt's crowdfunding page would be used to cover costs.

Mrs McCourt, who has campaigned for a law which would deny parole to killers who refuse to disclose the location of their victim's body, said "it seems unfair that I have to pay his costs but that's what's happened".

She said she was "grateful to all the people who contributed" to the fundraising page.

Mrs McCourt added: "Prisoners get legal aid and people like myself - we're ordinary people and we don't have the kind of money to take it to a High Court.

"The only thing we can do is go to a GoFundMe and thank god they did give me that."

Helen McCourt was murdered by Ian Simms in 1988

David Lammy, shadow lord chancellor and shadow secretary of state for justice, tweeted: "It is totally wrong for the family of Helen McCourt to be forced pay a penny of the legal costs of the man who killed her daughter.

"The government should recognise the exceptionally tragic circumstances here and apply some common sense."

Last week High Court judges refused to order a review of Simms' release and said a Parole Board decision "involved no arguable public law error".

But Mrs McCourt said the law doesn't recognise how "painful" it is for families of loved ones whose bodies have not been found.

'Show remorse'

"I have been going out searching for my daughter's body for 33 years and the government and our laws don't seem to understand how painful this all is," she said.

"Our families should have the right to know that when these killers are caught and if they refuse to say where their victims remains were hidden or what they did with them, at least let the family know.

"They should have to show this remorse before they can ever be considered for release."

A bill denying parole to killers who refuse to disclose a body's location, known as Helen's Law, cleared the Commons in March but came too late to prevent Simms being released.

Mrs McCourt said it would be a "great day to get that law passed and make sure no-one has to go through what I've had to go through".