Robert Brown, who was once a captain for British Airways, was found guilty of murdering his wife, Joanna Simpson, with a claw hammer at her residence in Ascot, Berkshire, in October 2010.
Court proceedings revealed that Brown, then 47 years old, carried out the assault in front of their two children, aged nine and ten, before disposing of her body in Windsor Great Park.
He subsequently admitted to police the following day.
Although he was acquitted of murder because of the influence of stress from their acrimonious divorce, Brown received a 24-year sentence for manslaughter along with an additional two years for obstructing a coroner.
His parole was initially scheduled for November after serving half his sentence, but the government intervened to block his release.
In October 2023, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk referred the case to the Parole Board, which effectively halted his automatic release.
The High Court later rejected Brown’s appeal, citing a significant risk to the public and doubts about his willingness to engage in rehabilitation.
The ruling received support from Joanna Simpson’s mother and Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, a charity chair specializing in domestic abuse, both of whom stressed that Brown should remain incarcerated given the seriousness of his crime.
This is a probabilistic continent or country-group signal from public name datasets. It is not proof of nationality, ethnicity or personal background.
Likely region signal
UK
Country
from United States
- based on first and surname
47.0%
confidence
First-name region
UK
United States
42.4%
Surname region
UK
United States
51.5%
Court Outcome
Conviction and Sentencing Details
Verified Conviction
Detected legal outcome
Robert Brown, who was once a captain for British Airways, was found guilty of murdering his wife, Joanna Simpson, with a claw hammer at her residence in Ascot, Berkshire, in October 2010. Court proceedings revealed that Brown, then 47 ye...
