A pub landlord who killed a young woman after she got off a bus near her home is free to walk the streets - despite never revealing where her body is.
Ian Simms abducted and murdered insurance clerk Helen McCourt, 22, in 1988.
He has never told police where he disposed of her body despite her family repeatedly appealing for him to do so.
Simms, the landlord of a pub then called the George and Dragon in Billinge, was convicted of Helen's murder in 1989 and was given a life sentence with a maximum tariff of 16 years.
Helen's mum Marie led a long campaign for the introduction of a 'Helen's Law' in her daughter's name, which would mean killers would have to disclose the whereabouts of their victim's remains before being considered for parole.
But the Mirror reports Simms, who has never revealed where Helen's remains are, has been granted parole after a hearing earlier this month.
A spokeswoman for the Parole Board said: “The Parole Board must make its decisions solely focused on whether a prisoner would represent a significant risk to the public after release.
"The panel will have carefully looked at a whole range of evidence, including details of the original evidence and any evidence of behaviour change.
“This is done with great care and public safety is the number one priority.”
One of the first UK cases to be solved using DNA, Simms was convicted after he was found with blood on his clothes which matched that of Helen’s parents, and her opal and sapphire earring was found in his car.
His bloodstained clothes were recovered from banks of a river, and a knotted strangling flex discovered nearby had teeth marks in it, matching those of the landlord’s dog and hairs identical to Helen’s caught in it.
In the last three months, Marie has started a fresh search for her daughter, with new suggestions she could be in Rixton clay pits, in nearby Warrington, 15 miles from Helen's home in Billinge, in a 200m zone, where Simms held a fishing license in another man’s name.
Marie added: "After Helen's death, my life has changed drastically, I didn't go out, I avoided people and only went outside on a Sunday when I was searching for her.
"I don't think Simms will ever tell me where she is.
"It's like a power thing for killers like him, he's just a chip off the old block."
