Family of Julie Hogg say Parole Board to investigate 'shambles' handling of public hearing delay
The family of murder victim Julie Hogg say the Parole Board is to investigate the handling of the adjournment of a rare public parole hearing for her killer.
Ms Hogg was killed in Billingham on Teesside in 1989. Her murderer William 'Billy' Dunlop was sentenced to life, serving a minimum of 15 years.
At the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday 25 June, a public parole hearing was set to take place for Billy Dunlop, but it was adjourned at the eleventh hour, due to additional information being submitted that the Parole Board said would need to be considered to make sure the hearing is fair.
Ann Ming, Ms Hogg's mother, and Kevin Hogg, Ms Hogg's son, spoke of their anger following the news that the hearing would be adjourned.
They described the handling of the delay as "a shambles" and a "disgrace" after travelling to London from the North East with the expectation of the hearing going ahead as planned.
Ms Hogg's family made a direct appeal for the Parole Board to set up a meeting with its chair, Caroline Corby, stating they wanted answers as to why the hearing was delayed.
That meeting took place on Wednesday (26 June) morning, with Mrs Ming and Mr Hogg describing it as "productive".
Ms Hogg's mother said: "It was horrible yesterday. People think I'm a strong person but yesterday I was probably at my worst since he [Dunlop] was acquitted."
Mr Hogg added: "They have apologised and they have assured us for next time round for the hearing that they're going to have someone at senior management level on the ground at the courts."
The Parole Board apologised for the delay to the hearing, adding it "does everything it can to avoid these delays."
In a statement, it said: "We realise that this can be disappointing but we have an obligation to make sure that the hearing is fair for all parties. That means that the panel need to see all of the relevant information and the parties need to have enough time to be able to respond to it.
"Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority."
"It added that the hearing will be re-listed "as soon as the additional information has been shared and considered".
What is a public parole hearing?
Public parole hearings were only introduced in 2022 when the Government lifted a ban, allowing people to apply for hearings to be held in public.
The Government says this is for transparency, and to improve the public's confidence in the parole process.
High-profile cases in the public interest can be considered for hearings like this. In this instance, the application from Ms Hogg's family for a public parole hearing for Billy Dunlop - the Double Jeopardy Killer - was approved.
What happened to Julie Hogg?
Ms Hogg was just 22 years old when she was killed after working her late shift at a local pizza parlour in November 1989.
Her disappearance was initially treated as a missing person inquiry until she was found by her mother 80 days later.
The body of Ms Hogg, who had a three-year-old son, Kevin, was discovered by her own mother decomposing behind a bath panel.
A case which made legal history
Dunlop twice stood trial for Ms Hogg's murder, but each time a jury failed to reach a verdict.
He was formally cleared but in 1999, while serving a sentence for a different offence, he confessed to the murder and admitted lying in court, boasting there was nothing anyone could do about it.
While he was jailed in 2000 for six years for perjury, he could not be tried for murder due to the Double Jeopardy Law, which prevented a person from being tried for the same offence twice.
Ms Hogg's family campaigned for years to change the law and in 2006 legal history was made when Dunlop was tried again and received a life sentence with a tariff of 17 years less time spent on remand.
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