Joanna Simpson's killer denied parole

Her estranged husband is serving 24 years after killing her with a claw hammer

A man convicted of killing his estranged wife, who grew up on the Isle of Man, has been denied parole.

Joanna Simpson died in October 2010 aged 46.

Robert Brown killed her with a claw hammer within earshot of their two children, then aged nine and 10.

He buried her body in a pre-dug grave in Windsor Great Park before handing himself in to police the following day.

The former pilot was found not guilty of murder, but was sentenced to 24 years for manslaughter in May 2011, after a jury was told the couple's bitter divorce proceedings had put him under great stress.

He was also sentenced to a further two years in prison for obstructing a coroner.

He had been due to be freed in November 2023 after serving half his sentence, but his release was blocked by the UK government.

Now, following a private hearing, the Parole Board has ruled that Brown is not fit to be released from prison, and will remain in custody until 2036, or until the board is satisfied he no longer poses a risk.

It's a decision Joanna's loved ones have spent three years trying to get.

Following her death, her mum Diana Parkes CBE and close friend Hetti Barkworth-Nanton CBE set up a charity in her name, the Joanna Simpson Foundation.

It aims to provide children who are affected by domestic homicide and abuse with a safe, secure and supportive environment, focussing on giving children the chance to heal, rebuild their lives.
Diana says: "I am incredibly relieved that the Parole Board have decided not to release Robert Brown. 

"We have all lived with the fear that this might not be the case but thank goodness it was unanimously agreed he should not be released.

"My daughter would have been 62 last Wednesday 6 May, and, of course, we remember her as the beautiful and vivacious woman she was at 46. That is how I will always remember her. Her children have grown to be the most wonderful young people. They have been my salvation over the years and I feel sure I have been theirs. How I wished I could have told Jo, as life has continued without her, the events that have happened in their lives such as the every day things in life, doing well at school, going to university gaining degrees, finding jobs and also partners. I have every faith that they owe their tenacity and strength to the early years spent with their mother who adored them as indeed I do." - Diana Parkes, CBE

Hetti says: "I am profoundly relieved by the Parole Board’s decision. 

"Since the day Robert Brown was given a sentence that would have led to his automatic release in 2023, we have all lived under a cloud of fear – a fear that today, at last, has been lifted.

"This outcome is not accidental. It is the result of our preparedness to campaign, the extraordinary support of the public and the media, the willingness of politicians to listen, the scrutiny shown by the UK Ministry of Justice in their review of this case, and the independent rigour of the Parole Board’s investigation. 

"Each played a vital role in ensuring that public protection, not process, determined the outcome."