First murderer jailed after changes to double jeopardy law says he would have killed again had victim’s mother not spearheaded campaign which became ITV drama

William Dunlop, the first person retried for murder under changes to double jeopardy law, says he believes he would have killed again or committed serious violence if he had not been imprisoned. His case followed a 15-year campaign by Julie Hogg’s mother, Ann Ming, after Dunlop was acquitted at an earlier trial and later confessed.

Dunlop, now 63, is seeking a move to an open prison and possible release in his fourth parole application. He strangled Hogg, 22, in 1989 and hid her body behind a bath panel; in 2006 he pleaded guilty and received a life sentence with a minimum term of 17 years. Psychologists assessed his risk of violence as low in prison and rising to moderate in the community, while Hogg’s son Kevin told the hearing that the loss still caused acute pain.