Family of murdered Liverpool woman call on Prime Minister to make it a crime to desecrate a corpse
The families of people who have been murdered, including Merseyside’s Helen McCourt, have called on the Prime Minister to create a new criminal offence of desecrating a body.
Plaid Cymru MP Ann Davies raised the issue in Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, asking Sir Keir Starmer to meet with the families and hear their plea. The MP for Caerfyrddin said: “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. Would the Prime Minister meet with Mr O’Leary’s family, along with other victims’ families, including April Jones of Machynlleth, Sarah Everard and Helen McCourt, to hear why they are calling for a new criminal offence of desecrating a body to be introduced?”
Responding, Sir Keir said: “Can I thank her for raising this horrific case and the other similar cases and 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… I’m sure the justice minister will be in touch at the first opportunity to take this forward.”
Mr O’Leary, a 55-year-old father of three, was shot dead by his friend Andrew Jones in 2020, after Jones found out the victim was having an affair with his wife. He then burned Mr O’Leary’s body on a funeral pyre made of wood pallets, and tried to make it look like he killed himself.
April Jones was just five years old when she was abducted from her home in Machynlleth, Powys, and murdered by paedophile Mark Bridger in 2012. There was strong evidence of a burnt human skull found in the fireplace of Bridger’s home.
Sarah Everard, 33, was kidnapped and murdered by off-duty police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021, who then burned her body in the woods.
Helen McCourt was 22 years old when she was killed while walking home in Merseyside, and her murderer never revealed the location of her body. Her mother, Marie McCourt, has campaigned for Helen’s Law, which would make it a criminal offence to conceal a body, and Helen’s Law 2, which would make a new offence of desecrating a body.