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| Double jeopardy man is given life | Double jeopardy man is given life |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| A man has been jailed for life at the Old Bailey after being tried a second time for the murder of his girlfriend. | |
| Billy Dunlop was acquitted of the 1989 murder of his former girlfriend Julie Hogg, of Billingham, Teesside. | |
| He confessed to a prison officer while serving time for assault but could not be retried until the double jeopardy law was changed last year. | |
| The 43-year-old has been told he must serve a minimum of 17 years in prison after pleading guilty last month. | |
| Under the previous 800-year-old law, anyone acquitted by a jury could not be retried for the same offence. | Under the previous 800-year-old law, anyone acquitted by a jury could not be retried for the same offence. |
| Dunlop could only be prosecuted for lying at his trial. He was given six years in jail for perjury. | Dunlop could only be prosecuted for lying at his trial. He was given six years in jail for perjury. |
| 'Persistent campaign' | |
| On Friday, a judge told him he must serve a minimum term of 17 years in prison. | On Friday, a judge told him he must serve a minimum term of 17 years in prison. |
| Julie Hogg's mother, Ann Ming and her husband, Charlie, 81, travelled to London from Teesside, to see Dunlop jailed. | |
| She sobbed as prosecutor Andrew Robertson, QC told the court: "Now the law has changed, in large part due to the long and persistent campaign by Mr and Mrs Ming who felt they and their daughter were being denied justice." | |
| Conviction makes history | Conviction makes history |
| An impact statement from Mrs Ming was read to the judge, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith. | |
| In it, she told of the "indescribable" shock and after-effects of finding the body after police had failed to discover it during a search. | |
| "As a family, we are damaged beyond repair and will never be the same again as Julie will never return home," she said. | |
| Ms Hogg, who was separated from her husband, had a son, Kevin, who was three when she was murdered. | |
| He was not in court today, but his impact statement said: "I have missed out on a mother's love. | |
| "I have missed out on a childhood. I have never been able to understand why the man who killed my mother had not been caught by police and sent to prison." | |
| 'Pure evil' | |
| Timothy Owen QC, defending, said Dunlop had confessed through remorse and because he wanted to make a clean breast of his crime. | |
| After the double jeopardy law was changed in April 2005 Cleveland Police re-opened the case into Ms Hogg's murder. | |
| The pizza delivery girl had been initially reported missing but her body was discovered months later behind a bath panel by her mother. | |
| Dunlop, a labourer who lived nearby and had had a brief relationship with her, was charged with the murder. | Dunlop, a labourer who lived nearby and had had a brief relationship with her, was charged with the murder. |
| He faced two trials, but each time the jury failed to reach a verdict and he was formally acquitted in 1991. | He faced two trials, but each time the jury failed to reach a verdict and he was formally acquitted in 1991. |
| Mrs Ming, campaigned tirelessly for a change in the law and described Dunlop as "pure evil". | |
| The law change only applies to England and Wales. In Scotland the former ruling relating to double jeopardy rule still applies. | The law change only applies to England and Wales. In Scotland the former ruling relating to double jeopardy rule still applies. |