A week of real progress for Simon’s Law ⚖️

What an incredible week it has been for Simon’s Law UK.

Last week, we sat around the table in Greater Manchester with Deputy Mayor Kate Green, representatives from the GMCA, Greater Manchester Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and Fay Maxted from The Survivors Trust.

For us, this was an important opportunity to take Simon’s experience directly to people within the criminal justice system and explain why we believe change is needed.

We spoke about what happens when a defendant is found unfit to plead, the importance of meaningful safeguarding following a finding of fact, and why survivors should never be left feeling that the justice system simply stops when a defendant develops cognitive impairment.

On the very same day, we received a significant response from the Ministry of Justice.

The Minister responsible for this policy area acknowledged the difficulties these cases can create for victims and survivors and confirmed that the Government recognises the law needs to be reviewed.

The Government has accepted the majority of the Law Commission’s recommendations concerning reform of the unfitness-to-plead framework and is considering how best to take those changes forward.

Importantly, we have now been invited to meet with Ministry of Justice policy officials to discuss these issues further.

For Simon and I , this is a significant next step. It gives us the opportunity to take the lived experience behind Simon’s Law directly into the policy conversation and explain where we believe the current system leaves serious gaps for survivors and safeguarding.

This week, we also returned to BBC Radio 5 Live to speak with Chris Warburton about Simon’s case, our campaign and why we are continuing to push for reform.

When we launched Simon’s Law UK, we were simply two people trying to make sense of what had happened to us.

Today, we are having conversations with senior figures across policing, prosecution, survivor support and government — and we are now preparing to take that conversation directly to the policymakers considering reform.

There is still a long way to go, and we know change will not happen overnight. But this week has shown us that these conversations are happening — and that people are listening.

To every single person who has signed this petition, shared our story, sent us a message or supported Simon’s Law UK: thank you.

Every signature has helped us take this campaign further.

Please continue to sign and share.

Dementia must never erase harm.
Prison may be inappropriate, but nothing is unacceptable.

Simon & Maria Byrne
Simon’s Law UK