Michael Simpson’s parents say they will ‘carry on fighting’
British couple whose son was killed by his wife in China say they will ‘carry on fighting’ after his daughter, six, was allowed to come home to UK while his son is ‘held to ransom’ by her family
- Father-of-two Michael Simpson was murdered by his wife in Shanghai in 2017
- His parents are fighting to bring his son Jack, who was taken by his Chinese grandparents, to the UK
- In an emotional ITV interview Ian Simpson pledged to bring home his grandson
The father of the British businessman murdered by his wife in Shanghai gave a heartwrenching interview today as he pledged to bring his grandson to the UK.
In an emotionally charged interview, Ian Simpson told Good Morning Britain about his ongoing fight to bring his grandson Jack to the UK.
The eight-year-old remains in the remote city of Nanzhang, where he was taken by his Chinese grandparents who refuse to give him up and allow Mr Simpson and his wife Linda to bring the youngster to England and reunite him with his sister Alice, six.
Mr Simpson’s 34-year-old son Michael, who was working in China as head of Next’s retail operations, was murdered by his wife Weiwei Fu in 2017.
After a two-year legal battle, Mr and Mrs Simpson last month successfully won the right to bring Alice back after giving more than £9,000 to the parents of their son’s murderer.
Today, Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid choked back tears as Mr Simpson told them the agonising decision to separate the siblings and leave Jack 5,000 miles away ‘affects him everyday’.
Michael Simpson pledged to carry on his fight to bring his eight-year-old grandson to the UK
Timeline: How businessman’s murder led to two-year fight for justice
2009: Michael Simpson was an operations manager for Next and was overseeing the retailer’s expansion in the Far East. He moved to China in 2009, when he met Weiwei, a store assistant. The pair later married and had two children.
2015: They separated in 2015 and he began a new relationship with Rachel Lin.
2017: On March 20, 2017, Weiwei Fu launched her frenzied attack on her estranged husband, while their children were asleep in his apartment. Rachel Lin was also injured in the attack
2018: Weiwei was jailed for life in July and the couple’s children Alice and Jack were taken to live with her parents.
In December Michael’s parents Ian and Linda brought their six-year-old granddaughter Alice back to the UK
2019: Ian Simpson vowed to carry on his fight to bring Jack to the UK to join his sister
Michael was the sole carer of Jack and Alice, who lived with him in his apartment in China.
He and his wife Weiwei had split up two years earlier and Michael had been left to raise their children.
He was with his new partner when Weiwei burst into his flat and stabbed him in the neck, killing him instantly. She also left Michael’s girlfriend with lifelong injuries.
Days later, Jack and Alice were spirited 600 miles from Shanghai to live in Nanzhang with their Chinese grandparents and a young cousin.
Today Ian Simpson told Piers and Susanna time was running out to bring the children to the UK in order to keep their father’s memory alive.
He said: ‘We saw the children once last year, for five hours, and they remembered their father.
‘But they didn’t remember him just before the hearing. We realised if we let this go on any longer, they would forget him altogether so we had to do something.’
Mr Simpson told GMB Jack was living with his maternal grandparents, who earn £700-a-year, in a tiny home in northern China where the whole family share one bedroom.
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He said: ‘There is no doubt we could offer Jack better financial support.’
He said Alice calls her big brother everyday, and revealed the youngsters do not yet know their father is dead and their mother is in prison.
‘They have been told their parents are working abroad. We’ve got to tell Alice, we have to sit her down and tell her. They should be told the truth, they should have been told ages ago.’
Mr Simpson told Piers and Susanna time was running out to bring the children to the UK in order to keep their father’s memory alive
Ian, Linda and Alice, left, on Christmas Day. The grandparents fought for two years to bring Alice to the UK
Michael Simpson with his two children, Alice and Jack. Michael was the sole carer of the siblings, who lived with him in his apartment in China
When asked how he felt about the painful decision to split the children up, Mr Simpson said he ‘thinks about it all the time’.
He also said he and his wife were left aghast when Wewei’s parents chose money over their daughter’s life.
At the start of her murder trial, the Fu family attempted to barter with the Simpson’s, asking for £63,000 in return for their grandchildren, before later changing their mind.
Mr Simpson told GMB: ‘They said if we gave them £63,000 before the sentencing they would give us both children.
‘They said they’d rather have the money and let their daughter Weiwei go to prison for life.
‘Linda and I couldn’t believe it. She’d been trodden on by her own parents.’
Six-year-old Alice calls her brother Jack everyday. He is currently living with his paternal grandparents
On the ongoing struggle to bring Jack back he added: ‘My lawyers in China are fantastic. They’re in tears so that’s when you know what you’ve got in terms of support.
‘We’re putting a plan together – a part of the issue is that in China people view sons differently to daughters – that’s a generalisation – I’ve had so many supporters in China so I don’t like generalisations, but this family does have that view.
‘Alice has now been here three days, we got in Friday night and she is an absolute joy.
‘[On telling her what has happened to her father] I think she is strong enough; she’s a very strong character and an absolute credit to her dad, as Jack is – he is such a lovely lad as well.
‘We’ll carry on fighting.’
Michael Simpson was stabbed to death by his estranged wife Weiwei Fu (pictured together on their wedding day)
He added: ‘There’s a photo someone took of us coming out the court with Alice and our lawyers told us to run and get in the car.
‘You have a weird feeling then the quiet bit comes where you think, “Jack’s not here.” It does affect me. It wasn’t an easy decision.’
Mr Simpson also paid a tribute to his late son, calling him ‘fantastic’.
Piers said: ‘A murderer’s family appears to be afforded more rights than you; the loving grandparent of someone who was killed.
‘It seems unfathomable to me.’
Susana told Mr Simpson the Fu family were ‘blackmailing’ and ‘holding him to ransom.’
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