KILLERS will face tougher jail sentences when the harrowing impact of their crime is delivered in court.

That looks likely to be the result of a groundbreaking Government policy allowing bereaved families to have their say on the stand.

The move has been welcomed by families of murder victims in Warrington.

Marie McCourt, whose daughter Helen was murdered in 1988, said: "I think it is about time. For too long families have not even been wanted in the court room.

"Losing someone you love in a brutal and unexpected way is unbearable.

"But being in a room full of bewigged men and women trawling through the circumstances of the death over and over, without being able to say a word, is a living nightmare."

The body of 22-year-old Helen has never been recovered but the bloodstained clothes of St Helens pub landlord Ian Simms were found in Hollins Green and a spade located near Rixton Clay Pits.

Despite being handed a life jail term in 1989, the 51-year-old killer refused to reveal the whereabouts of her daughter's body.

The 62-year-old mum added: "This measure will help grieving families. When a murder happens all power is taken away from us, you can't touch the body or deal with it accordingly. With Helen it became a clinical police investigation. We had no rights."

Under the new scheme, relatives would be able to address the judge after the conviction of the killer, but before sentencing.

Alternatively, a family solicitor would be able to read their comments if they found the situation too traumatic.

As a leading member of the Merseyside-based Support After Murder and Manslaughter (SAMM) group, who worked with the parents of Jamie Bulger, Mrs McCourt says members have embraced the Government's plans.