Timeline leading up to double jeopardy conviction

Last updated at 15:22 11 September 2006


Fifteen years after he was cleared of murder, the first person in Britain to face a retrial under new double jeopardy rules admitted today that he killed his victim.

Billy Dunlop, 43, pleaded guilty to murdering pizza delivery girl Julie Hogg, 22, in Billingham, Teesside, when he appeared at the Old Bailey.

Here are the events leading up to the conviction:

• November 1989: Pizza delivery girl Julie Hogg disappears, leading police to carry out a missing persons inquiry.

• February 1990: Her mother Ann Ming discovers her daughter behind a bath panel at Ms Hogg's home in Billingham, Teesside.

• May 1991: A jury at Newcastle Crown Court fails to reach a verdict, and Dunlop is freed.

• October 1991: A second jury fails to convict at a retrial, and the judge orders Dunlop to be formally cleared.

• November 1993: Cleveland Police settles a negligence claim by paying £10,000 damages, plus costs, to Ms Hogg's family after her mother sued the force for negligence.

• August 1997: Dunlop is sentenced to seven years for attacking a former girlfriend.

• April 2000: After confessing to a female prison officer that he killed Ms Hogg, he admits perjury for lying at the two murder trials. He is sentenced to a further six years in jail.

• January 2001: The Law Commission reviews the double jeopardy rules, after years of campaigning by Mrs Ming.

• May 2003: MPs back changes to double jeopardy rules, allowing the Crown Prosecution Service to reopen serious criminal cases where new evidence arises.

• November 2005: Director of Public Prosecutions Ken MacDonald announces the Dunlop case is to be sent to the Appeal Court to have his acquittal quashed.

• July 6 2006: At the Old Bailey, Dunlop finally admits murdering Ms Hogg.

• September 11 2006: Dunlop formally pleads guilty to murdering Ms Hogg.

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