British Airways killer Robert Brown could be freed with date set for next parole hearing
British Airways killer Robert Brown could be freed with date set for next parole hearing
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BRITISH Airways killer Robert Brown could be freed with a date set for his next parole hearing. Pilot Brown, now 60, bludgeoned his estranged wife Joanna Simpson to death with a claw hammer before burying her in a pre-dug grave in Windsor Great Park. The couple’s two young children were within earshot when he attacked her in the family home on Halloween 2010.
![[a man in a blue shirt is sitting at a table with his arms crossed]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/12839312-508b-41ee-ac21-e82c34eebfb9.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Brown was handed a 26-year term for manslaughter, after arguing that he was suffering from adjustment disorder at the time of the attack, and was due to be released in November 2023 after serving just half of his sentence. Joanna's mother Diana Parkes launched an appeal in The Sun to block Robert's release, saying that she was convinced he would find a way to hurt her and her grandchildren if he was set free.
![[a woman is holding two children , a baby and a boy , and smiling for the camera .]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/joanna-simpson-pictured-two-children-882218949.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
The then Justice Secretary Alex Chalk stepped in and used his Powers To Detain to stop him from getting out of prison, which was challenged in the High Court but upheld. During the Judicial Review held last year into the case, the court heard that Brown could be at risk of killing again if he was released early from prison and has “no remorse”.
![[a woman in a floral dress is holding a baby]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/collect-pictures-joanna-diana-parkes-797988637.jpg?strip=all&w=756)
The Ministry of Justice has argued that Brown is a “significant risk of serious harm” due to his “non-engagement” with probation officers which would allow officials to properly assess the danger. Brown “has been described by various professionals as hostile, superior, defensive, dismissive and grandiose” according to the ruling and “He continues to lack motivation to engage” with rehabilitation.
![[a hole in the ground with a measuring stick in it]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2011-robert-brown-47-bludgeoned-5321475.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
