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Murderer says he would have killed again but ‘I totally get family’s pain now’

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Cite

Allingham, P. (2026, October 21). Murderer says he would have killed again but ‘I totally get family’s pain now’. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/kevin-dunlop-ming-county-durham-parole-board-b1301791.html

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Evening Standard · collected 2026-10-21 · by Pol Allingham
Content note This article describes sexual violence.

Quick Summary

Billy Dunlop, the first murderer jailed under an amendment to Scotland's double jeopardy law, has appeared before a parole review panel. He admitted that if given the chance, he would have committed further crimes but now understands the pain of victims' families. Dunlop confessed to the murder of Julie Hogg in 2006 after eluding prosecution for years due to the previous double jeopardy rule, which prevented multiple trials for the same crime.
Written by AI on 2026-10-21, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

William Dunlop, now 63, has started his fourth application with the Parole Board to review his case after being jailed under changes to the double jeopardy law. In 1989, Dunlop strangled Julie Hogg, a 22-year-old pizza delivery woman in Billingham, Co Durham, and hid her mutilated body behind a bath panel. Her mother, Ann Ming, discovered the body more than two months after her death. Prosecutors described the attack as "premeditated and truly horrendous." Dunlop was charged with murder but was acquitted due to hung juries in 1991. He served seven years for grievous bodily harm in 1998 when he admitted lying during his earlier trial. Dunlop, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), now says he would have killed again if not for Ming's campaign for justice.

Written for “Double Jeopardy Law Change” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Double Jeopardy Law Change
Crime & Law · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 7% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 9 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different individuals and crimes, with one focusing on Jeffrey Donaldson's sentencing for sexual offenses against children and the other on a murderer's statement under the amended double jeopardy law.”
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 25 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different perpetrators and victims, with distinct details and court proceedings.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 5 of 28 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles describe different topics - one is about a murderer's statement regarding his crime and remorse, while the other discusses new sentencing powers for killers who refuse to face court.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 0 of 30 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles describe two different violent incidents involving separate victims and perpetrators.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
43
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
3 of 43 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-21 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 8127 article(s) · 73 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 73 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Pol Allingham
37 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 She wrote to say she knows he is an abuser and that he will never see his grandchildren Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, the outlet said.
🔮 First Minister John Swinney met with senior politicians, emergency response agencies and forecasters to discuss the ongoing response, amid warnings that similar conditions will return early next week.
2026-10-25 · assertive framing · Man killed by falling tree in Storm Boelo
🔮 Forecasters are monitoring another low pressure system moving in on Monday and Tuesday.
🔮 The time passed makes it “understandable” Meghan “may have been mistaken by a few months”, they added.
🔮 The island of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides experienced 82mph winds at about 4am on Sunday, according to the forecaster.
🔮 Amber weather warnings have come into force as the worst of Storm Boelo could be set to hit parts of the UK.
🔮 Amber weather warnings have come into force as the worst of Storm Boelo could be set to hit parts of the UK.
🔮 Smith explained that White Teeth’s characters live in the falling apart “dreg ends” of north-west London, but in the context of an “incredible, historic welfare system” with free education, subsidised housing and free healthcare. “It is one of the most progressive moments of human history, certainly in the history of this country,” she said, telling Lipa how her father – born in 1925 – had to leave school at 13 because he could not afford the uniform.
🔮 A yellow wind warning for parts of Northern Ireland came into force at 10am and will run until midday on Sunday.
🔮 Storm Boelo’s strong winds and heavy, frequent showers are set to batter northern parts of the UK with gusts potentially exceeding 80mph.
Also by Pol Allingham
Man killed by falling tree in Storm Boelo
2026-10-25 · Evening Standard
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 37 articles by Pol Allingham →

Topics

Panel

Subjects

Dunlop PERSON · 9× Hogg PERSON · 6× Ming ORG · 2× Billy PERSON · 1× Julie PERSON · 1× Panel ORG · 1× Zaiada Bibi PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Family of Miss Hogg watching from London groaned when Dunlop said he has had suicidal thoughts as a result of diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). On whether he considers himself a risk to the public, he said: “No, I’m more frightened of them than they should be of me – I’m more concerned about people finding out where I am and causing me harm…
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-21
🔮 The first murderer to be jailed after an amendment to the 800-year-old double jeopardy law has said he would have killed or committed serious violence again, but today “I totally get” the suffering of the victim’s family.

Claims (43 extracted, 3 hedged)

The first murderer to be jailed after an amendment to the 800-year-old double jeopardy law has said he would have killed or committed serious violence again, but today “I totally get” the suffering of the victim’s family. asserted
I → jail → family
The killer had subjected the 22-year-old pizza delivery woman, who had a three-year-old son at the time, to a violent sexual assault after she rejected him, in what prosecutors called a “premeditated and truly horrendous” attack. asserted
prosecutors → subject → what
On Wednesday, Dunlop started his fourth application to review his case and the panel will consider his release as well as potential transfer to another prison. asserted
panel → start → prison
Read More Opening the review of Dunlop’s case, he said: “I can say categorically that time isn’t the great healer it’s purported to be. asserted
it → read → case
“As the years pass, the pain of losing my mother to this murder remains acute.” asserted
pain → pass → murder
He described the devastation wrought on himself and family members including health and relationship issues, and “joy or even just cheeriness” falling in “short supply”. asserted
He → describe → supply
After the statement, Dunlop, who psychiatrists previously found has “psychopathic traits” and “severe personality problems”, told the panel: “With my significant bereavement that I had, I can empathise with them (the family). asserted
I → find → them
“I get it now. asserted
I → get → it
I totally get it now. asserted
I → get → it
“I was struggling when (Mr Hogg) was talking about it, from what it was bringing back for me.” asserted
it → struggle → me
The panel later heard the recent bereavement was his son. asserted
bereavement → hear → ?
Dunlop said “if I think about my significant other, I think about Julie” and “this is going to be the most difficult parole hearing I have been in”. asserted
I → say → Julie
He added: “I can’t understand (Mrs Ming) finding her daughter, that I struggle with, but I relate to the loss now, the not knowing – I get that, I really do.” asserted
I → add → that
The killer described getting “snippets of information” about his son’s death while in prison. asserted
killer → describe → prison
Per Dunlop’s request to not be seen, the murderer spoke with his back to the camera that was live-streaming from an unnamed prison to a room with Miss Hogg’s family inside. asserted
that → see → family
Dunlop, known as Billy, was tried twice for the murder but both juries failed to reach a verdict. asserted
juries → know → verdict
Three years later, while in jail for another crime, he confessed and admitted lying in court, boasting there was nothing anyone could do about it because of the double jeopardy rule in place at the time. uncertain
anyone → confess → time
Miss Hogg’s family, including her mother, campaigned for 15 years to get the law changed so he could be charged with the same crime twice, and in 2006 he became the first person to be tried under the new rules. uncertain
he → include → rules
He was convicted of murder and jailed for life. asserted
He → convict → life
Panel member Zaiada Bibi asked him if he regrets the confession and he responded: “No, no, without a doubt, no. asserted
he → ask → doubt
“I think I said this at the last parole that I thanked Mrs Ming for doing it because I’ve not hurt anybody else – by me being in prison all this time I’ve not hurt anybody. asserted
I → think → anybody
Asked if he believes he would have gone on to commit another murder or serious violence, he said: “I would say yes because that’s what my life was.” asserted
life → ask → murder
Dunlop said he started using violence at seven or eight-years-old because he was “taught that’s how you got respect”, and that remained his “identity” until 10 years ago. asserted
that → say → respect
He said he had intended to take Miss Hogg’s life because “you cannot strangle somebody and think you’re not going to do that”. asserted
you → say → that
The killing was motivated by his “entitlement and also the rejection, because I’ve never handled rejection very well at all”, he said. asserted
he → motivate → rejection
Asked what he thought he was entitled to, Dunlop said: “Respect. asserted
Dunlop → ask → Respect
‘You should respect me’ was one of my unwritten rules.” asserted
respect → respect → rules
“Euphoric feelings” hit him for up to 30 seconds after he realised Miss Hogg was dead, he said. asserted
he → hit → seconds
The euphoria was about “the power it gave us because I’ve always felt insecure”, he added. asserted
he → give → us
Dunlop said he then started to panic and “I just thought ‘what have I done, what am I gonna do’, and I just thought ‘I can’t get caught for this'”. asserted
I → say → this
He said he sat in the chair across from Miss Hogg for what could have been five minutes or half an hour before moving the body. uncertain
what → say → body
The panel asked if he thought about the impact of his crimes on the family prior to the parole hearing. asserted
he → ask → hearing
Dunlop, who now works as a painter and decorator in prison, replied: “I did think about them and the effect it would have on them, however it was all about me and I just suppressed what I felt. asserted
I → work → what
“I just pushed it to one side and I had seen them on the telly, Ann and Kevin, when she was missing and I either turned it over or turned the volume off because I couldn’t – it was all about me, it wasn’t about them, it was survival.” asserted
it → push → them
Dunlop went on to say he would not have confessed if the double jeopardy law was not in place. asserted
law → go → place
“I would have tried to carry on suppressing it,” he said. asserted
he → try → it
Describing his personality at the time of the attack, he said: “I was just a selfish individual who just thought about myself, who didn’t a lot of the time think about others – it was all about my needs, it was all about what I needed.” asserted
I → describe → what
He said he now only experiences thoughts of violence towards himself, not to other people, and thinking about his former self makes him “cringe” because of “how selfish and self-centered I was”. asserted
I → say → self
Family of Miss Hogg watching from London groaned when Dunlop said he has had suicidal thoughts as a result of diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). On whether he considers himself a risk to the public, he said: “No, I’m more frightened of them than they should be of me – I’m more concerned about people finding out where I am and causing me harm… asserted
I → watch → harm
I don’t want to cause anybody any harm.” asserted
I → want → harm
…and 3 more, not listed.
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