Insurance clerk Helen McCourt vanished on her way home from work in 1988.

Ever since, her mother Marie McCourt, from St Helens, Merseyside, has begged her killer Ian Simms to reveal the whereabouts of her daughter’s body.

For the last five years Mrs McCourt and the rest of Helen’s family have also campaigned for changes in the law.

Simms, a pub landlord who was convicted by a jury on overwhelming DNA evidence of the 22-year-old’s abduction and murder, has always maintained his innocence.

MPs voted in favour of the law in 2016 but it did not receive Government backing until last year. It was then presented to Parliament after being mentioned in the Queen’s Speech.

The Prisoners (Disclosure Of Information About Victims) Bill had to be scrapped amid the general election and the prorogation of Parliament, before being brought back for debate for a second time and eventually approved.

In the meantime, Miss McCourt’s family tried to overturn the Parole Board decision to release him but this was rejected by High Court judges earlier this year.

The McCourt family said they were relieved when the Bill finally gained Royal Assent in November because their quest was fraught with political and constitutional delays but the decision came “just too late” to keep Simms behind bars for longer.