Honoured campaigner Marie McCourt is being backed by families of horrific murders all calling for a law change to go after killers who desecrate and hide bodies
Murder victims’ families – including the mum of April Jones – are calling for new legislation for killers who desecrate and hide bodies. Campaigning mum Marie McCourt, whose daughter Helen was murdered aged 22 in 1988, is being backed by the parents of Sarah Everard and April Jones.
Their loved ones were ‘desecrated’ by their killers in an attempt to hide evidence. Marie’s ‘Stop the Desecration campaign’ was mentioned in PMQs on Wednesday, with leader Keir Starmer, referring to the families of such “horrific” crimes and agreeing: “We all need to listen to what they have to say”.
Only tiny fragments of five year old April’s body were recovered following her murder in September 2012 by Mark Bridger. April Jones, who would have turned 18 this spring, was just five when she was kidnapped and murdered by Mark Bridger in 2012. She vanished after being seen getting into a vehicle near her home in Powys.
Bridger is serving a whole life sentence for her abduction, murder and perverting the course of justice. Only tiny fragments of her body have ever been recovered. Her mother Coral says: “The offences he was charged with, and convicted of, don’t reflect the true horror of what he did. The law needs to be changed.”
While Sarah’s body was burned and dumped by killer Wayne Couzens after she was abducted, raped and murdered in March 2021. In a statement of support, the Everard family said: “Sarah died in horrendous circumstances. But what Couzens did afterwards – burning and dumping her body in a bid to destroy evidence has only deepened our pain, grief and torture.”
Despite buying petrol, burning her body and dumping her remains inside rubble bags, no charges relating to preventing a burial or obstructing a coroner were ever brought. In a separate victim impact statement read to the Old Bailey her mother, Susan, described the impact Couzens’ cruel actions had on them.
“Burning her body was the final insult. It meant we could never again see her sweet face and never say goodbye.”
Marie McCourt, whose successful Helen’s Law has seen parole denied to killers who hide bodies, wants to see further change. Her ‘Stop the Desecration campaign’ was raised in Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday by Ann Davies, MP.
The MP represents the family of murder victim Michael O’Leary, 55, who was shot and burned in January 2020. Only a tiny fragment of his remains was ever recovered.
The Caerfyrddin MP told the Commons: “My constituent Mr Michael O’Leary was brutally murdered five years ago and his body was desecrated… I’ve made a number of requests to discuss his and other victims’ cases with ministers and to explore introducing legislation making the desecration of a body a criminal offence.
“Will the Prime Minister meet with Mr O’Leary’s family along with other victims’ families including April Jones and Sarah Everard and Helen McCourt to hear why they are calling for a new criminal offence of desecrating a body to be introduced.”
Mr Starmer responded: “Can I thank her for raising this horrific case and the other similar cases. My thoughts and I’m sure the thoughts of the whole house are with Michael’s family and all those affected by such vile crimes. I think we all need to listen to what they have to say.”
He continued: “I’m sure the Justice Minister will be in touch at the first opportunity to take this forward.”
In March 2022, the Ministry of Justice said it would wait until the completion of a public inquiry into the offences of murderer and necrophiliac David Fuller, who abused more than 100 bodies in hospital mortuaries, before considering Marie’s proposal.
Marie, now 81, said: “But three years on, the inquiry is still ongoing and we are no further forward. Meanwhile, the number of desecrations has soared – causing untold distress to families.”
A local pub landlord, Ian Simms was jailed for Helen’s murder despite her body never being found. He was released in 2020 and died two years later.
Other supporters of her campaign include the families of Sasha Marsden, 16, who was stabbed, raped and set on fire after being lured to a fake job interview in January 2013; Jayden Parkinson, 17, who was pregnant when she was murdered and hidden in a grave belonging to the killer’s uncle; Jan Mustafa 38, who was murdered and hidden in a chest freezer for a year and Lorraine Cox, 32, who was murdered and dismembered in September 2020 on her way home from a night out.
Ancient common law offences for obstructing a coroner and preventing a burial do exist – but are rarely and randomly applied, says Marie.
Marie says: “I fought tooth and nail to have my daughter’s killer charged with them only to be told it wasn’t in the public interest. I was told her killer had been convicted of her murder and that’s what mattered. But these cruel acts, committed after death do matter – both to the victim, their loved ones and to society.”
Marie, from Billinge in Merseyside, whose successful Helen’s Law has seen parole denied to killers who hide bodies, was shocked to discover that a statutory offence of burning a body other than in a crematorium, does exist. But the CPS has confirmed that only three charges have ever been brought – with just one conviction resulting.
She added: “Four of our families have suffered the distress of knowing their loved ones were set alight after being murdered. So why weren’t the killers charged with these offences?”
She continues: “Back when Helen first went missing, such cases were rare. But barely a week goes by without another ‘human remains discovered’ story hitting the news.
“So many families are living with the horror of knowing their loved one has not only been murdered – but been set alight, dismembered and scattered, stored inside a freezer, or, in my daughter’s case, hidden so well they will never be found.
“Bereavement experts say it triggers a grief so complex and pathological that it’s impossible to come to terms with. All of our families are living with this torture – day in, day out. Advances in forensic science and detection methods means killers are going to ever-desperate lengths to hide or destroy the bodies of their victims – and thanks to the ‘dark side of the internet’ and true crime programmes, there is no shortage of horrific ideas out there.”
Criminologists, forensic psychologists, police officers and bereavement experts are also supporting Marie.
Leading forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd says: “As a leading forensic pathologist in more than 23,000 autopsies, I have been a first-hand witness of man’s inhumanity to man. I have also learned, over the years, that there is almost nothing a person will not do to avoid a murder charge.
“Bodies ‘speak’ to the pathologist. What the deceased ‘says’ can help bring a perpetrator to justice. In a civilised society, surely any attempt to prevent that from happening should be accountable?”
