'Please, please do not let this man out and risk putting another family through what we went through'

THE family of a woman who was sexually abused and murdered fear her "pure evil" killer may strike again as he tries to switch to an open jail.

- Josh White and Amanda Revell Watson

Billy Dunlop, who killed Julie Hogg, may have his move approved by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood today after completing his minimum 17-year prison term.

Parole chiefs support transferring Dunlop, 62, to a site where he can enjoy "unsupervised" time in the community. But Julie's mother Ann Ming pleaded: "Please do not let this man out into the community."

The Parole Board recommendation is the latest in a series of its controversial judgments.

Dunlop was jailed for life in 2006 for the 1989 murder of Julie, who he strangled and hid behind her bath.

But last month officials decided he was suitable for release to an open prison, noting there had been "a very substantial change in his degree of self-knowledge and self-control".

Ms Mahmood has already delayed making a determination once but is due to give her final decision today.

Last night Julie's grieving mother Ann Ming urged the Justice Secretary: "Please, please do not let this man out into the community and risk putting another family through what we have gone through."

Ann, 79, whose book For The Love Of Julie about her fight for justice is being dramatised by ITV with Sheridan Smith as the retired nurse, added: "Dunlop spent years bragging in pubs he killed my daughter.

"He has never apologised or reached out to us. There is no remorse there. He made a mockery of justice in the past and it was only because of our campaign that we got this dangerous individual behind bars.

"He evaded justice for 17 years and there's a risk he makes another mockery of justice now."