THE man convicted of an infamous murder faces his latest bid for freedom today, Friday.

But changes in the law have left open the possibility of a dramatic confrontation between Ian Simms and his victim’s mother, Marie McCourt, at a parole board hearing.

It is 20 years since Marie watched Simms led away to the cells after he was found guilty by a court of murdering her daughter, Helen.

In the two decades since DNA evidence led to Simms’ conviction, he has remained in prison, maintaining his innocence while serving a life sentence.

Marie, meanwhile, has endured her own tortured life term as she has repeatedly searched for her daughter’s remains and called on him to reveal where he hid 22-year-old Helen’s body.

Long searches of Rixton Claypits took place at the time and Marie believes that is where her daughter’s body lies.

This morning Simms is due to appear before a parole board hearing and legal changes leave open the dramatic prospect that Marie, now aged 65, could come face to face with him for the first time since 1989.

The long-suffering mother, from Billinge, will travel to Garth Prison, in Leyland, Lancashire, where ex-George and Dragon landlord Simms is behind bars.

She is due to read a statement objecting to his release before a parole board panel – but will only find out when she attends the prison whether the man jailed for killing Helen will be present.

Marie said: “He can make a decision not to be present when I’m in there and instead be represented by a solicitor, but he may choose to be there.

“I don’t know what will be in that man’s mind so I will have to wait and see whether he’ll be there.

“During his trial (in 1989) I have been told he did not look at me once when I was in the witness box.

“Then, when he was being taken down to the cells after a 15-day trial he couldn’t look at us (Helen’s family).

“He just turned his head and looked back over to the jury and shouted something at them.”

The last contact Marie had with Simms was in 1991 when she hand-delivered a letter to HMP Wakefield, a maximum security prison where he was then being held.

In the letter she asked for him to reveal the whereabouts of Helen’s body but he responded with a written reply that Marie described as spiteful.

Marie added: “All I have ever wanted is for Ian Simms to tell me where my daughter’s remains can be found so I can give her a Christian burial.

“ I would have gone away and left him to get on with his sentence, but until she is found I will keep fighting.

“I will fight this man’s release – not only has he taken away Helens’s life he has done great damage to the lives of me and my family. He stopped her from becoming a mum, even a grandmother.

“He has also destroyed a big chunk of my life. What he left us with was to go out searching the grottiest, dirtiest places – like the River Irwell, where Helen’s clothes were found in thick mud.”

Several years ago Simms had his case passed on to the Criminal Cases Review Commission but it rejected calls for the conviction to be referred to the Court of Appeal.

Simms was one of the first people in the UK to have been convicted on DNA evidence without a victim's body having been discovered.

At his last parole hearing two years ago, Simms – who in 1989 was ordered to serve a minimum tariff of 16 years – was denied a release from prison.

He has now served 21 years behind bars. It is thought the parole board will make a ruling a week after Friday’s hearing.