Robert Brown is due to go before a Parole Board panel for a two-day hearing as he bids to be freed – more than 15 years after he killed his estranged wife Joanna Simpson
Evil British Airways killer Robert Brown will be quizzed by experts behind bars as he launches a fresh bid for freedom.
The pilot bludgeoned his estranged wife Joanna Simpson to death with a claw hammer and then buried her in a pre-dug grave. Brown, 60, was due to be freed in November 2023 after serving just half his sentence. It sparked an angry backlash from Joanna’s mother and the government which challenged the decision.
Now, Brown is due to go before the Parole Board with a date set of January 12 and 15 for a two-day hearing. A panel of experts will interview him and see what progress he has made in prison. The couple’s two young children were within earshot when he attacked her in the family home on Halloween 2010.
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He then buried her in a pre-dug grave at Great Windsor Park. Brown was jailed for 26 years for manslaughter, after arguing that he was suffering from adjustment disorder at the time of the attack.
Joanna’s mother Diana Parkes launched a public campaign to block the move – saying she thought he would find a way to hurt her grandchildren if freed.
The then Justice Secretary Alex Chalk stepped in and used his Powers To Detain to stop him from getting out of prison, which was challenged in the High Court but upheld. During the Judicial Review held last year, the court heard Brown showed “no remorse” and could be at risk of killing again.
The MoJ argued he was a “significant risk of serious harm” due to “non-engagement” with probation officers. He had also not completed accredited courses to recognise his offending..
But now a Parole Board spokesperson has said: “An oral hearing has been listed for the parole review of Robert Brown and is scheduled to take place in January 2026. Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
“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.
“Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing.
“Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing.
“The prisoner and witnesses are then questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more. Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.”
In January 2007, Joanna went to a solicitor after Brown accused her of having an affair. Eventually, the couple split and Joanna was encouraged by the outcome Radmacher v Granatino case, which saw prenups being seen as enforceable in the UK.
Her parents had encouraged her to sign a prenup with Brown. However, Joanna was killed by Brown on October 31, 2010.
Brown phoned the police about a “serious domestic incident” and was arrested on suspicion of being involved in Joanna’s death. He accompanied police when they recovered Joanna’s body from the woodland area in Windsor Great Park.
Brown was diagnosed by the defence psychiatrist as having an adjustment disorder, which involves a “maladaptive response” to a stressor. He was eventually found guilty of manslaughter, but not guilty of murder.
The killer became eligible for parole halfway through his sentence but was met with a widespread campaign against his release.