September 12th 2023.
The best friends of Joanna Simpson are doing everything they can to prevent her killer from being released from prison. Robert Brown, 59, brutally murdered Joanna at their home in Windsor on Halloween in 2010, in earshot of their children. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility and was sentenced to 26 years in prison.
Belinda Skudder, Amanda Key and Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, Joanna's close friends, are leading a campaign to keep Brown behind bars until the end of his sentence. They are pleading with the Home Secretary to use the ministerial veto, a new rule brought in by Dominic Raab, to prevent Brown's release.
The plea has been backed by Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, who has promised to do all he can to ensure justice is served. Hetti, 56, has set up the Joanna Simpson Foundation in her honour, and is chair of Refuge, the UK's largest provider of support for women and children escaping domestic violence.
Hetti has been vocal in expressing her fear of Brown being released. She said: ‘He has been assessed as a 'critical public protection case', which means he needs specialist management and additional resources if he's let out. And yet a recent report shows the probation service is understaffed, undertrained and overwhelmed. So who will be monitoring him?’
Joanna's mother Diana Parkes has also stressed that Brown is 'not fit to be released, and that he should stay in prison for as long as possible'. Belinda, 59, added: ‘He has the traits of a narcissist. He has to win at all costs. If he is allowed out of prison he will feel wronged. No woman is safe.’
The friends of Joanna Simpson have made a plea to the Home Secretary to keep her killer in prison and ensure justice is served. Brown is due to be released on licence in November after serving half his sentence, but the friends will not rest until he is kept behind bars.
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