Julie's murderer is 'evil through and through'

A woman who successfully had the double jeopardy law changed, leading her daughter's murderer to be jailed for a minimum term of 17 years, has said he is "evil through and through" and should never be free.

William Dunlop sexually abused and strangled 22-year-old Julie Hogg before hiding her body beneath a bath in Billingham, near Middlesbrough, in 1989.

Julie's son, Kevin Hogg, and mother, Ann Ming, have been in London observing Dunlop, who was eventually jailed for life in 2006, as he makes his fourth bid for parole.

Dunlop told the Parole Board he was no longer the "horrible violent person" he had been and was ready for release, but Ann said she did not believe him.

Juries twice failed to convict Dunlop in the years immediately following Julie's murder, but he later confessed to the killing to a prison guard in 1999, while incarcerated for inflicting grievous bodily harm on a new partner.

Under the so-called double jeopardy rules, Dunlop could not be prosecuted again for Julie's murder, but Ann successfully fought to change the 800-year-old law and he was eventually jailed in 2006.

A previous hearing held partially in public in December 2024 ended with the Parole Board recommending Dunlop be moved to an open prison, but that was blocked by then justice secretary Shabana Mahmood in April 2025.

A similar bid was also stopped by the government, three years earlier, in 2022.

Ann and Kevin attended the latest hearing this week at the International Dispute and Resolution Centre, in the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral in central London.

At the hearing, Dunlop claimed he had been "rehabilitated", stating the death of his son last year had enabled him to "empathise" with his victim's family.

Ann and Kevin could be seen shaking their heads throughout Dunlop's testimony, which they were watching on a TV screen because the actual parole hearing was held in Dunlop's prison.

"He's evil through and through," Ann told the BBC. "I definitely don't think he'll change.

"To me, he should stay in prison for the rest of his life."

She said he had been diagnosed as a psychopath and would always remain one, in her opinion.

"I do not believe in his reform," she said. "He'll come out, he'll kill somebody else."

She insisted nowhere would be safe for him, adding: "Nobody in Teesside wants him back because they know how violent and evil an individual he is."

Her grandson, who was three years old when Dunlop murdered his mother, said hearing Dunlop's history had been "horrific".

Kevin also argued the parole process was "not a level playing field for victims", as Dunlop was able to respond and try to refute claims made in family statements, but they were not able to do the same.

The hearing began with Kevin holding up a picture of his mother and reading a statement, in which he said they - her family - were the ones suffering a life sentence.

He said his mother's murder had devastated the lives of many and still had ongoing health impacts on her relatives, while Dunlop had done his best to "thwart" justice.

Dunlop told the panel he was no longer the violent and insecure man he had been, and it had been proven people could be "rehabilitated".

Ann said it was "horrible" hearing Dunlop's attempts to convince the Parole Board of his changed character.

"He comes across as though he's a reformed character, and all this rubbish that he's talking...

"How can people be fooled by it, when they've got a dossier on him which says how many evil deeds he's carried out?"

The panel heard Dunlop had spent five and a half years in a high-security mental unit, where he was diagnosed with severe personality disorder and psychopathic traits.

He has been an inmate at a category C prison since 2018, and at his current establishment - where he moved in 2022 - he was well thought of by staff and other prisoners and was employed as a painter, the panel heard.

He had not had any prison adjudications - imposed for fighting with another inmate - since 2010, they were told.

Prison professionals said Dunlop was ready for release, which would see him have to abide by strict conditions, such as a curfew, GPS monitoring and polygraph tests, and live in a supervised hostel.

His offender manager said the biggest challenges he would likely face, after almost three decades in prison, would be around "day to day" things, as well as "media interest" in him and dealing with possible rejection from employers and his family.

But she said the way he had dealt with the death of his son and the release of a TV drama about his case in the previous year had demonstrated he was able to cope with stress.

A psychologist, who spent 40 hours with Dunlop, said his violence and manipulation was seeded in a "tumultuous" and "very traumatic" childhood, but he had worked to overcome those issues and had developed an "ability to show empathy to others".

The Parole Board will release its recommendation at a future date.

It will then fall to Justice Secretary Alex Norris, who the panel was told was opposing release, whether or not to support any of the board's proposals.

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