Carrie Johnson pleads for killer pilot to be kept behind bars

‘He has shown no remorse’: Carrie Johnson says the early release of Joanna Simpson’s killer BA pilot husband would be a ‘real failure in our system’ as she backs campaign to keep him in prison

• Robert Brown, 59, bludgeoned his wife Joanna to death with a claw hammer
• He has served half of his 26-year sentence and is due for release in November 

Carrie Johnson last night pleaded for a wife killer to be kept behind bars.

In an emotional statement, she said that freeing Robert Brown halfway through a 26-year sentence would signal ‘a real failure in our system’.

The 34-year-old wife of ex-PM Boris Johnson also spoke of her battle for black cab rapist John Worboys to remain in prison. He drugged her when she was just 19.

Mrs Johnson was at the Westminster launch of a campaign – backed by the Mail – urging Justice Secretary Dominic Raab to keep Brown in jail for the brutal killing of his estranged wife Joanna Simpson.

She drew parallels between the Brown and Worboys cases, saying that in both ‘the law was badly letting victims down and failing to do its job to protect women’. 

Speaking out: Carrie Johnson last night with Diana Parkes, whose daughter Joanna was bludgeoned to death

Robert Brown, pictured, 59, bludgeoned Joanna to death with a claw hammer within earshot of their two young children

Mrs Johnson was joined in her call by politicians including former home secretary Priti Patel and former justice secretary Robert Buckland.

Brown, 59, bludgeoned Joanna to death with a claw hammer within earshot of their two young children. The former British Airways pilot is due for automatic release in November.

His victim’s mother Diana Parkes and domestic violence campaigners have called on Mr Raab to block the release by using his powers to refer the case to the Parole Board.

Mrs Johnson said she had been ‘horrified’ to hear of the proposed release just as she had felt ‘totally powerless’ on learning in 2018 that Worboys could be freed.

He drugged her after he picked her up following a night out with friends. She blacked out and does not know what happened, although she does not believe she was assaulted.

One of 14 women to give evidence against him in court, she later waived her right to anonymity to campaign against his proposed release.

Worboys is still in prison and has been sentenced for further sex offences that came to light.

Mrs Johnson said she learned about Brown’s proposed release after meeting Mrs Parkes and Joanna’s friend Hetti Barkworth-Nanton at an event in Buckingham Palace last year.

Mrs Johnson said Brown had stalked Joanna, pictured, for years and threatened to kill her three years before he battered her to death

Carrie Johnson (left) and Joanna Simpson’s mother Diana Parkes in Westminster for the launch of a campaign to prevent the release of Robert Brown

She said: ‘I remember Hetti and Diana describing themselves as feeling like “sitting ducks”, totally powerless to do anything. I knew that feeling from my own experience, when I found out that taxi cab rapist, John Worboys, was due to be released from prison much earlier than expected, with no explanation as to why.

‘I won’t go into the details of that case but it was a similar injustice, a similar circumstance where the law was badly letting victims down and failing to do its job to protect women.

‘But what I learnt from that case, is that sometimes, against all odds, you can change things, your voice doesn’t have to go unheard.’

Mrs Johnson said Brown had stalked Joanna for years and threatened to kill her three years before he battered her to death in their former marital home in Ascot. He buried her body in a grave he had already dug in Windsor Great Park.

At trial, Brown was acquitted of murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, claiming he had a stress-related ‘adjustment disorder’.

Mrs Parkes fears he could still pose a risk to her family and to other women. She has warned he would require a high level of monitoring on release. Mrs Johnson said: ‘Robert Brown killed his wife just a few feet away from his two young children. He has shown no remorse. All we are asking for is that the punishment fits the crime.

‘The Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab, should urgently review this case and use his powers to do what he can to prevent the early release.’

A Ministry of Justice spokesman has said Mr Raab would ‘do everything in his power to keep the most dangerous offenders behind bars’.

Mrs Parkes is due to meet Mr Raab next week and said this was a breakthrough for her family’s campaign.

Miss Patel told the campaign launch that women and girls had the right to live without fear of violence.

Joanna’s family are urging people to write to their MP calling for Brown to remain in jail. 

Details can be found online at jsfoundation.org.uk/call-to-action

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