The family of Helen McCourt are seeking an urgent judicial review to prevent her killer being released from prison despite never revealing where he hid her body.

McCourt’s brother Mike confirmed that they were working with a legal team to make the request after the Parole Board said it was standing by its original decision to free her murderer Ian Simms after refusing a request by the justice secretary, Robert Buckland, to keep him behind bars.

Her mother, Marie McCourt, had called on Buckland to step in after the Parole Board decided Simms had met the test for release three decades after the 22-year-old went missing.

Speaking to PA Media on Thursday, Mike McCourt said: “We are seeking an urgent judicial review. That is our next step. We have a legal team helping us out.”

He said lawyers had already been in contact with Buckland about the move.

Describing the family’s reaction to Wednesday’s news of the release decision, McCourt said: “My mum took it in her stride. I expected the decision to go that way. I hoped, but I knew they wouldn’t overturn their own decision.

“When it came out it was hard to take. It all seems to be going against us but we have to keep fighting.”