Plans to move Julie Hogg's murderer to an open jail have been halted a day after a plea by her family was highlighted by the Express. On Thursday, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood vetoed letting "pure evil" killer Billy Dunlop, 62, out into the community.

His victim's family are "elated" he is staying in a high-security jail. Dunlop is serving life for the 1989 killing, in which Julie was strangled and sexually abused. Jurors twice failed to convict him, prompting him to boast of the "perfect murder" and continue his life of violent crime on Teesside, including stabbing a pregnant ex-partner and battering her new boyfriend.

Miss Hogg's mother Ann Ming campaigned successfully to overturn the "double jeopardy" rules and he was finally handed a life sentence in 2006.

But the Parole Board recently decided on an open prison, noting a big change in his "self-knowledge".

Ms Mahmood has now vetoed this after an agonising wait for the family.

Mrs Ming and her grandson Kevin, who was just three when his mum was murdered, said: "We are elated that the minister has truly put victims' at the heart of the system.

"Dunlop made a mockery of the criminal justice system and this truly shows that violent offenders will be punished accordingly."

A 2022 open-prison switch was overruled by then justice secretary Sir Brandon Lewis, saying it "would undermine public confidence" and was "not essential" for rehabilitation.

Mrs Ming, whose book on her fight is being dramatised by ITV, has told the Express: "Dunlop is pure evil, he should never, ever be released."

A retired detective who encountered the killer on Teesside said the Parole Board has "never met the real Dunlop". The Ministry of Justice was asked to comment.