The family of a teen sailor, who disappeared from a Navy ship in the 80s, are horrified that the suspected killer could be freed this week. Simon Parkes was just 18 when he vanished from HMS Illustrious in 1986, and his family believe he was another victim of serial killer Allan Grimson.
Grimson, also known as ‘Frankenstein’, was jailed for 22 years in 2001 for the murder of two other men. He is now eligible for potential parole and could be freed after a panel hearing on Thursday. Despite no new evidence found in a recent search for Simon’s remains, his family insist that Grimson must remain in prison.
Mum Margaret Sparkes, 78, from Kingswood, near Bristol, expressed her fears ahead of this week’s hearing. She said: “I think everything has to be done to prevent him getting parole and I am really hoping this will do it.
“He is a danger to society. He was a petty officer and someone people looked up to. But he only got 22 years for two horrific murders. His words – they were better than sex – those were his words.”
Margaret voiced her concern about the possibility of his release, stating: “It doesn’t sit well that he could be released. He is a psychopath. Do you ever change? I don’t think so.
“Our life sentence goes on. All I can say is Grimson will be a danger to society if he comes out – a leopard never changes his spots as they say – that is it really.
“We just need to find Simon. I don’t care about Grimson. He’ll get what’s coming to him one way or another, in this life or the next.”
Margaret emphasised the importance of finding out what happened to Simon for closure. She said: “We just need to know what happened as that’s the only way we are ever going to get any closure.
“I know Allan Grimson is responsible – I have no doubts at all but at the moment it is all circumstantial. We have to prove it. But as years have gone on, more has come forward and there is more evidence and hopefully it becomes more likely we can get the CPS to authorise charges.”
She recalled how initially it was assumed that Simon had simply gone awol and after an initial search effort proved fruitless they went more than a decade with barely any contact from the authorities.
Margaret admitted: “The years before that were dreadful. I think we lived in a bubble. It was so shocking and unbelievable he was not coming home – on Christmas as well. We just didn’t know what to do and had no-one to turn to.”
She went on to explain her distressing experience of first knowing about Simon’s disappearance: “We only knew about it via phone call – just that Simon hadn’t returned and the ship had sailed two days after – all that time had gone by. We didn’t realise in all those hours, all those days.”
While expressing her frustration, she added: “We did not know anything really until the ship arrived back without him.”
She said the uncertainty before Grimson became a suspect was the hardest part. “We were just feeling so helpless,” she added. “We are just ordinary people and we didn’t know how to go through to the military and what to do.”
She told about their attempts to find Simon, “We made our own posters in those days – there was no mobile phones, no social media, no outlets for talking to people.”
She commented on the initial search process, “There was a big search initially and there were 500 people out looking for him at one point. It was a case of where is he and what’s he done.”
Reflecting on their initial mindset, Margaret said: “At the time it was easier to accept he was awol than the alternative that he was dead – we couldn’t process that.”
Margaret explained: “The search quickly went quiet and there were no leads for years. Then suddenly it was a phone call from Hampshire Police asking us to come and see them.
“That was awful but it was a relief to think we could hand this over to someone and they are dealing with it – at least we might get answers.”
Margaret shared fond memories of her son: “He was just a typical 18 year old. He loved having fun and was always the joker. He always got on with people of all ages.”
Simon was remembered by many as a friendly and naive young man: “He was a bit naive and had never really left home before this trip. But everyone I spoke to said what a nice guy he was and they always remember him.”
Margaret tried to hold onto hope that Simon would be safe in the navy. She said: “We thought doing a trip like he did was such an adventure but that he would be in such a safe place. That was the feeling – he was with the navy and just doing his job.
“But of course he wasn’t safe.”
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