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15
Sept 2024
'There's been no justice': Victim's family speaks out as Harrogate killer could be moved to open prison
Warning: This article contains sensitive topics that some readers may find very distressing.
An innocent Leeds woman, named Gemma Simpson, was aged just 23 when she was brutally murdered. Now, her killer could be moved to an open prison after a mere 10 years behind bars.
The Stray Ferret contacted Krista Simpson, Gemma’s younger sister, after discovering former Harrogate man and convicted killer, Martin Bell, could be transferred to a category D prison as early as next year.
Category D prisons are the lowest security prisons and allow prisoners to spend “most of their day away from the prison” on licence.
Inmates can go to work, places of education, or leave the premises for “resettlement purposes”. The government states only those prisoners who have been risk-assessed and are deemed “suitable for open conditions” are eligible.
But Krista said her family has “never been given any evidence” of Bell’s reform.
Gemma’s story
Krista described her older sister as a “livewire”, adding Gemma “always looked out for all of us – she was so family-orientated”.
“She was so witty and so beautiful. She was just a character", Krista said.
She told the Stray Ferret the pair had known each other since Gemma was 13 and Bell was around 20, adding he “sent Gemma a dozen red roses” on her 16th birthday.
Nowadays, it would be seen as grooming. She was 13 and he was in his 20s.
I think he had a bit of a fascination with her. There was always something weird about him, but she was friendly and took people at face value until they upset her.
Bell, who was 30 at the time of Gemma’s death, invited her to his Harrogate flat on May 5, 2000. It was some six weeks after Bell had been released from psychiatric care.
The only person who truly knows how Gemma came to her tragic death is Bell.
Justice Peter Collier, the judge that sentenced Bell, said the killer described having an argument with Gemma. After which, in his “paranoid state”, he struck her head repeatedly with a hammer.
After fearing Gemma might regain consciousness, Bell then “stabbed her in the back and the back of the head repeatedly”, so to ensure there would be “no chance of surviving”, the judge found.
Bell then left Gemma in a bath for several days, during which he decided how to dispose of her body, before dismembering Gemma and burying her at Brimham Rocks.
Over the next few years, Bell returned to the burial spot several times, the judge told the court.
The Simpson family were tortured by the uncertainty of what happened to their daughter, sister, niece, aunty and friend, who was considered missing for the next 14 years.
Krista said:
We were going round knocking on doors at the time. West Yorkshire Police didn’t tell us Gemma had a home phone installed the day before her death – and Bell was the last person she called. If they’d told us that, we would’ve been straight there round to his house.
We were never made aware he was the last person she spoke to. It didn’t come out until he confessed – but alarm bells would’ve started ringing ages before.
We assumed there was no contact between them anymore – especially because he’d been in psychiatric care for a while before. I think she probably felt sorry for him at the time.
The Stray Ferret asked Krista how the family coped with not knowing where Gemma was – or if she was even alive.
It was hard. I lived towards Liverpool and worked in Bolton at the time. I’d be driving around and I'd see people with, like, her hair from the back and you think ‘that’s her’.
There’s always this hope that she’ll walk through the door or call us one day and just ask, ‘what’s been going on?'.
You never get closure. It’s always there in the back of your mind, no matter where you go.
(L) Krista and Gemma Simpson
Bell confesses
Fourteen years later, Bell walked into Scarborough Police Station and confessed to the murder.
The judge found it was his mother’s death that prompted this, but Krista said he “confessed to his girlfriend at the time”, who urged him to come clean.
The Stray Ferret asked Krista how she found out her sister had been killed and who was behind it.
It was horrific. My sister, Naomi, was the first port of call between the liaison officer and our family, so West Yorkshire Police turned up at her door and told her Scarborough had him.
I was sat in my mate’s garden at the time when I got the call from Naomi.
As Krista began to tear up, she told us the “part that really gets her”:
I then had to tell my dad. That was hard.
It was about 4.30pm, I went over to his house and as soon as I walked in the door, before I’d even said anything, he just knew.
He said, ‘no that can’t be right, she’s coming home’. I said, ‘no, she’s not dad’.
Gemma Simpson. Credit: West Yorkshire Police
‘We were in prison for 14 years’
Bell eventually took police to the spot where he buried Gemma, before he was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court in December 2014.
The judge said psychiatrists agreed Bell fit the requirements of a manslaughter with diminished responsibility charge.
Bell was found to be suffering with an “underlying mental health condition and personality disorder”, the judge ruled, and handed Bell a life sentence with a minimum term of 12 years.
But 160 days was deducted due to time spent on remand, so the overall minimum term to spend was 11 years and 205 days.
This was less than 10 years ago – and now Bell is closer than ever to walking the streets again.
A parole hearing about Bell's move to open prison was supposed to be held last Tuesday, but it was postponed suddenly.
However, Krista feels justice has not been served for her sister’s killing. She said:
He doesn’t have an understanding of what he’s done. He got away with it for 14 years – he hasn’t even served that in prison.
We were in prison for 14 years – he held Gemma prisoner for 14 years. There has never been justice for Gemma.
It’s so scary, we’re scared another family could go through this and suffer at the hands of him.
We’ve never seen a single psychiatric report – we don’t even know what prison he’s in. How do we know he would be monitored? There’s such a lack information for victims’ families.
It comes at a time when violence against women and girls has been declared a national emergency. Krista felt Bell would "only add" to the nationwide threat, adding:
I didn't think we'd even be looking at this until the end of 2025, but this feels like a prelude to his release in 2026.
If he was moved to an open prison anywhere in the north really, I could walk down the street and see my sister's killer.
Parole Board’s response
The move also follows the government’s early release prison scheme, which was launched this week. The Stray Ferret contacted the Parole Board to ask about Bell’s potential move to a category D prison, including whether there is any link to the scheme.
A spokesperson said:
No. The early release scheme is for Standard Determinate Sentence prisoners who are being released automatically (without a Parole Board review).
HM Prison and Probation Service conduct a pre-tariff sift of indeterminate sentenced prisoners a few years before their tariff expires and some of them are referred to the Parole Board for a parole review.
We also asked the board if it acknowledged the potential threat to both Gemma’s family, and the wider community, should Bell be integrated into society prematurely.
The spokesperson added:
The panel who holds the oral hearing will take that into account when conducting their risk assessment.
The family will have the right to set out how it has impacted on them in a victim personal statement, which the panel will read. They can also request the decision summary which will set out the reasons for the panel’s decision.
Gemma (centre) with her sisters and mum.
Krista and her family have worked tirelessly to ensure people know Gemma's story.
She told the Stray Ferret – no matter the outcome of the parole hearing – her family will continue working with their local MPs to campaign for more information to be released to victims' families.
If Bell is transferred to open prison, she said she will "make his face known" and make the wider community aware of him.
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