Double jeopardy killer William Dunlop refused open prison move

A murderer who was only jailed for killing a woman after a change in the double jeopardy law will not be moved to an open prison, despite a recommendation by the Parole Board.

William Dunlop strangled Julie Hogg, 22, and hid her body beneath a bath at her home in Billingham, County Durham, in 1989, but juries twice failed to find him guilty.

Dunlop was eventually jailed for life with a minimum term of 17 years in 2006 following a successful campaign to change the law by Ms Hogg’s family.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood made the decision to “block” Dunlop’s move to open conditions despite the board assessing him as “presenting a low risk of absconding”.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Julie Hogg’s murder was a horrific crime and our thoughts remain with her friends and family.

“Public protection is our number one priority which is why we have blocked William Dunlop’s transfer to open prison.”

While in prison for other offences, Dunlop boasted to a prison guard about getting away with the killing, but he could not be prosecuted again for the same crime after being acquitted twice.

Ms Hogg’s family got the law changed and he was jailed.

In a statement, Ms Hogg’s family said they were “elated” and said Mahmood had “truly put victims’ at the heart of the system”.

“The decision to refuse the parole board’s recommendation is the right decision for public safety.”

Ms Hogg’s mother Ann Ming found her body three months after she was killed.

She had attended the public part of the panel hearing discussing Dunlop’s move.

Ms Ming previously said the man who lied and then bragged about strangling and sexually assaulting her daughter before hiding her body beneath a bath should never be released.

She had told the BBC: “We as a family are doing a life sentence, we are living and breathing what he did until the day I die.”

Dunlop had told the Parole Board panel he had been a “violent, hideous, uncaring person” who could have gone on to kill other people.

But he claimed he had changed in prison and deeply regretted the man he had been.