Mother's Decades-Long Fight to Keep Daughter's Killer Imprisoned Continues

Ann Ming, now 80, is preparing for her fourth parole hearing as she continues her decades-long fight to keep William Dunlop, the murderer of her daughter Julie Hogg, behind bars. Dunlop admitted that without Ann Ming's campaign, "there'd be a lot more people dead in Billingham."

Julie Hogg vanished on November 15, 1989, after finishing her shift at a pizza shop in Billingham, Teesside. Nearly three months later, Ann Ming discovered her 22-year-old daughter's decomposing body hidden behind the bath panel in her own home, despite police having searched the house for five days after Julie was reported missing.

"That was the start of a living nightmare," Ming told The Trial podcast. "It was horrific… once I got my thoughts together, I was angry because I'd been right all along - I knew something had happened to her."

Police arrested William 'Billy' Dunlop, who had a reputation for violence. Julie's keys were found nailed under floorboards in his lodgings, and hairs from his head were on the blanket covering her body. However, due to the decomposition of Julie's remains, the post-mortem could not definitively establish the cause of death. Dunlop's first trial in 1991 and a subsequent retrial both resulted in hung juries, and prosecutors offered no further evidence, leading to his acquittal.

Within weeks of his acquittal, Dunlop boasted in local pubs that he had committed the perfect murder. In 1998, he was jailed for seven years for a violent attack on a former girlfriend and her new partner. From prison, he wrote to the former girlfriend, threatening to do to her what he had done to Julie. He later confessed the murder to a prison officer, citing the 800-year-old double jeopardy law, which prevented an acquitted person from being tried again.

Ann Ming then spent 15 years campaigning to have the law overturned. In 2006, Dunlop was finally convicted of murder. Her story was later adapted into a BAFTA-nominated drama, "I Fought the Law," starring Sheridan Smith.

"I can't tell you what it felt like: Dunlop was there, hearing them say guilty for killing Julie," Ming said. "I will take it to my grave."

Despite the life sentence, Dunlop's minimum term of 17 years expired in 2021, and he has been subject to regular parole reviews. The Parole Board has twice recommended moving him to an open prison, but the Justice Secretary has blocked these moves. This has led to Ann Ming and her grandson, Kevin Hogg, repeatedly having to attend parole hearings, reliving the case's horrors to argue for Dunlop's continued incarceration.

"I tell you now, I dread the parole hearings. It's the fourth one we're on now," Ming stated. "To me, public protection must always be at the top of any list. Look at what Dunlop has done since he was wrongfully acquitted: he attempted to murder a man and woman, and threatened to kill another woman. Why would you let somebody like that out who has committed more than one violent offence? Why put him back in the community?"

Kevin Hogg described the process as "systematic torture," noting that even after a decision is made, the next hearing is scheduled within a few months, offering no closure. He expressed frustration with the Parole Board's process, particularly when attempting to articulate the finality of his mother's death. "I said: 'I will never be able to reconnect with my mother.' Legal have challenged it and said: 'Well, that's an opinion.' It's not an opinion. My mum is dead. I can't reconnect, it's factual."