Joanne Tulip was murdered on Christmas Day in 1997
The Parole Board has refused to overturn its direction to release a convicted murderer who stabbed a woman 60 times.
Steven Ling was jailed for life in 1998 for murdering Joanne Tulip, 29, in Stamfordham, Northumberland, on Christmas Day in 1997.
The board was asked by the Lord Chancellor to reconsider its September ruling Ling should be released after serving 27 years of his life sentence.
Ling admitted rape but the charge was left to lie on file meaning he has not been classed as a sex offender.
A Parole Board spokesman said “based on the evidence” the application for reconsideration “will be refused”.
“Decisions of the Parole Board are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public and whether that risk is manageable in the community,” he said.
“When assessing the reconsideration application, the judge recognised the very significant gravity of the case and the profound ongoing impact on the victim’s family.”
Doreen Soulsby believes her daughter’s killer should never be released
Ms Tulip’s mother, Doreen Soulsby, said in September she was “very angry” at the decision to release Ling.
She later told BBC Women’s Hour he was “a real danger to women”.
In its ruling, the Parole Board said: “Mr Ling has always accepted that he raped the victim.”
Ling was initially ordered to serve at least 20 years behind bars, but in 2009 a High Court judge cut the minimum term to 18 years.
Image source, PA Media
Ling admitted rape but the charge was left on file
Mrs Soulsby said: “Because the murder was a more serious offence, the judge decided that the rape shouldn’t go to trial because it would be an abuse of court process.
“It was said that it would upset the family, but we weren’t even asked.”
She added: “The bottom line is that he is not even a convicted sex offender [for] this horrendous offence that he committed.
“So now he could be released, living next door to you and you wouldn’t know he was a sex offender.”
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