A mother who campaigned for a key change in the double jeopardy law so her daughter’s killer could be brought to justice has said “life should mean life” after the Parole Board recommended he be moved to an open prison.
William Dunlop, now aged 61, strangled pizza delivery woman Julie Hogg in Billingham, County Durham, in 1989 and hid her mutilated body behind a bath panel where it lay undiscovered for more than two months.
The killer subjected the 22-year-old, who had a three-year-old son, to a violent sexual assault after she rejected him, in what prosecutors called a “premeditated and truly horrendous” attack.
Now, the Parole Board is recommending he be moved but the final decision will be made by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
He had initially hoped to be released into the community but withdrew this application last year and agreed he would be better suited to open prison conditions.
Dunlop, known as Billy, was tried twice for the murder but both juries failed to reach a verdict.
Three years later, while in jail for another crime, he confessed and admitted lying in court, boasting there was nothing anyone could do about it because of the double jeopardy rule in place at the time.
Miss Hogg’s mother Ann Ming campaigned for 15 years to get the 800-year-old law changed so he could be charged with the same crime twice, and in 2006 he became the first person to be tried under the new rules.
He was convicted of murder and jailed for life.
Ms Ming has told the BBC she felt “deflated” about the recommendation and “just couldn’t believe [the panel] could fall for” his claims of being reformed.
She said: “If you don’t know how evil he is, you believe what he says.
“I don’t believe one word he says.
“I definitely do not think he will ever be safe to come out into the community.
“I really fear for another family having to go through what we have gone through because of Dunlop’s behaviour.”
Ms Ming said that “life should mean life”.
