Farm laborer Stephen Ling was sentenced to life in prison in December 1998 after confessing to the Christmas Day murder of Joanne Tulip the previous year. There was still a rape charge on file.
The 29-year-old was stabbed 60 times at home in Stamfordham, Northumberland, by Ling.
The public and media can see a live feed of Tuesday’s proceedings, which are happening at the jail where Ling is being kept, here.
-Dominic Raab, the justice secretary at the time, turned down Ling’s request to be moved to a reduced security jail in 2022. The action that year disregarded the Parole Board’s recommendation.
Mr. Raab made this first intervention of its sort after pledging to personally consider requests to transfer high-risk criminals to jails that are open to the public.
At the time, a representative for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) affirmed that Mr. Raab had turned down Ling’s action “in the interest of public protection”.
On Ling’s behalf, the Parole Board heard a similar plea in 2020, which the MoJ rejected.
