Ann Ming’s unimaginable story to get justice for her murdered daughter has been transformed into a four-part ITV drama, with Sheridan Smith portraying the unstoppable mother driven by grief and anger.
I Fought The Law gives viewers an intense insight into the day Ann’s life took a devastating turn: 16 November 1989. And it tracks the next 17 years of anguish she suffered at the hands of the criminal justice system.
Her story begins when she made one of her regular phone calls to daughter Julie Hogg, 22, which suspiciously went unanswered.
Searching for Julie
The pair spoke every day, meaning Ann was immediately on edge when her daughter didn’t pick up the phone. Julie had been due in court that day to discuss the separation from husband, Andrew, making alarm bells ring even louder for Ann.
Visiting Julie’s home in Billingham, County Durham, to check on her in person, Ann found there was nobody at home in the property. She and son Gary even broke in, hoping to find evidence of where Julie might be.
When the police were alerted, a forensic search of her home found nothing to suggest anything untoward and they suggested Julie left of her own accord. Ann knew Julie wouldn’t have just vanished – she was a mother to three-year-old son, Kevin, and wouldn’t have willingly left him.
Ann spent the following weeks appealing for information relating to Julie’s whereabouts. On 1 February 1990, she visited Julie’s husband Andrew, who had returned to the home he once shared with Julie prior to their separation.
He’d asked Ann to help him with a smell in the bathroom he couldn’t get rid of. Horrifyingly, as Ann removed a bath panel in the hunt for the source of the odour, she discovered Julie’s body wrapped in a blanket under the bath.
Killer walked free first time
The following investigation took police to William ‘Billy’ Dunlop, a neighbour of Julie’s who’d briefly been in a relationship with her.
Dunlop had strangled and assaulted Julie, leaving her body under the bath. In their search of his home, police found Julie’s house key under his floorboards. His hair was also on her body, and his semen on the blanket she was wrapped in.
At his trial in May 1991 at Newcastle Crown Court, the jury were unable to reach a verdict on Dunlop’s guilt, leading to a retrial.
The second jury were also unable to reach a verdict, leading the judge to acquit him.
After alleging that Dunlop was later heard bragging about killing Julie, Ann made it her mission to get him off the streets and get justice for her daughter.
Double jeopardy law
Dunlop eventually ended up in prison in 1997 for attacking his pregnant girlfriend with a toasting fork. While behind bars, he admitted to killing Julie in a recorded police interview.
However, even with this solid evidence, the double jeopardy law at the time meant that Dunlop couldn’t be tried again for his crime – but Ann did everything she could to overturn this.
(Image credit: ITV)
Over the following years, Ann took on the Crown Prosecution Service, the Law Commission, defence barristers, the Government, the Lord Chancellor, the Attorney General, and two Home Secretaries while trying to change the law.
Finally, on 4 April 2005, Ann accomplished what she set out to do. The double jeopardy law ended in England and Wales as Part 10 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
Killer finally imprisoned
By allowing retrials when new and compelling evidence arose for serious offences, William Dunlop could then be retried.
On 6 October 2006 – almost 17 years after murdering Julie – he became the first killer to be convicted under the new law, and was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 17 years.
Ann’s story and Julie’s legacy
Ann Ming’s book, which the ITV drama is based on, tells her incredible story for justice for her murdered daughter in her own words.
Ann received an MBE for services to the criminal justice system in 2007. She later went on to write a book about her experience, poignantly named For The Love of Julie, on which the series is based.
While Ann has suffered the long term consequences of PTSD following her devastating discovery, she’s pleased her story is being told.
She’s also spoken about what her life looks like now, saying, “I’m living a full life sentence, it’s the same for anyone whose loved one has been murdered, you’re forever haunted by what happened.”
She adds, “I’ll be 80 this year, so I’m not campaigning any more. If I was younger I’d be looking at the parole system because I’ve had to fight so that her killer doesn’t go to an open prison.”
“The thing that has changed for me is that I’m not frightened to die now, because I know Julie will be there waiting for me.”
I Fought The Law will air on ITV and STV and be available to stream on ITV X and STV Player from Sunday 31 August, followed by I Fought The Law: The Ann Ming Story documentary.
