THE mother of a missing Royal Navy sailor from South Gloucestershire, who vanished 37 years ago, has expressed relief after her son's suspected killer was denied parole.
Simon Parkes, aged 18, from Kingswood, near Bristol, was last seen in December 1986 when the ship he was serving on, HMS Illustrious, was docked in Gibraltar.
Margaret Parkes, aged 79, has spent nearly 40 years desperate to find out what happened to her son - who vanished without trace.
Simon’s family are convinced he was a victim of serial killer Allan Grimson, a former petty officer who was also serving aboard the ship at the time.
Grimson, dubbed the 'Frankenstein' killer, was jailed for 22 years in 2001 for the murder of naval rating Nicholas Wright, 18, and barman Sion Jenkins, 20.
Grimson is now eligible for potential parole, but the family feared he could soon be free.
After the parole hearing was delayed for several months, Simon's family has been told Grimson will remain in prison after the parole board rejected his application on public safety grounds.
Grimson has always denied any involvement in the disappearance of Mr Parkes.
Ms Parkes said: "They have made the right decision.
"There was no other decision they could make.
"As a family, we are going through a life sentence not knowing what happened to Simon or where he is buried.
"It is only right, at least until he gives up that information, that he suffers the same."
A recent dig for remains in Gibraltar in January 2024 failed to turn up fresh evidence
In denying his latest bid for freedom, the Parole Board said: "We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board refused the release of Allan Grimson following a paper review.
"Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community."
The board said it had considered the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented in the dossier.
It said in its summary: "The panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public."
Grimson will be eligible for another parole review in "due course" the report concluded.
Margaret said: "I wasn't officially told of the parole outcome.
"It was actually a surprise to hear the news as we didn't know about the hearing.
"Of course, it would be wonderful if he admitted to Simon's disappearance and told us where he was - but I don't know whether that will ever happen."
Margaret said at the beginning the assumption was that Simon had just gone awol and after an initial search effort proved fruitless they went more than a decade with barely any contact from the authorities.
It wasn't until Grimson was convicted of the other two murders that a link was made between him and Simon.
Margaret said: "We did not know anything really until the ship arrived back without him."
Paying tribute to Simon, Margaret said: "He was just a typical 18-year-old.
"He loved having fun and was always the joker.
"He was a bit naïve and had never really left home before this trip.”
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