Mum ‘fears for safety of all women’ after daughter’s sadistic killer is released

A mother whose daughter was raped and stabbed 60 times in a sadistic murder says she is ‘filled with fear for the safety of all women’ after her killer was freed from prison.

Steven Ling was jailed for life in December 1998 for the horrific murder of Joanne Tulip, 29, in Stamfordham, Northumberland.

The former labourer was recommended for release by the Parole Board last year.

Joanne’s mum, Doreen Soulsby, said she got the news on Wednesday ‘that I have been dreading’.

Ms Soulsby said: ‘Today, I received the devastating news that the offender, Steven Ling, who savagely raped and murdered my daughter has been released from prison and allowed back into the community.

‘I received the email this morning and subsequent phone call that I have been dreading, ever since the Parole Board decided to release Ling from prison.’

She said: ‘Ling’s release is a grave error by the Parole Board, one that has deeply shaken my confidence in the justice system.

‘I am now filled with fear for the safety of all women, especially young women, knowing that Ling, who committed the most horrific and sadistic crimes against my daughter, is no longer behind bars.

‘I firmly believe he poses a significant risk and will reoffend.’

Ling was recommended for release following his fifth parole hearing last year.

The Parole Board was then asked by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood to reconsider its recommendation on the basis that it was legally irrational, but the decision was upheld.

A board spokesman said at the time: ‘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.

‘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.’

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Ling was inspired to murder Ms Tulip on Christmas Day 1997 by sadism, Newcastle Crown Court heard at the time. He stabbed her 60 times.

A charge of rape was left on file during the original court case, so he is not a convicted sex offender, but in its ruling the Parole Board said: ‘Mr Ling has always accepted that he raped the victim.’

Sentencing him to life in prison, Mr Justice Potts told Ling, who was 23 at the time of the murder: ‘You will never be released so long as it is thought you constitute a danger to women.’

Ling was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 20 years, which was reduced to 18 years by the High Court.

The Parole Board judgment said Ling has since admitted committing a number of acts of indecent exposure before he murdered Ms Tulip but was never caught.

The panel accepted he had undertaken an official programme to address his violent and sexual offending, and his conduct in prison ‘has largely been exemplary’.

His release was subject to conditions which include informing the authorities of any relationships he might develop, being subject to monitoring and a curfew, and staying out of an exclusion zone to avoid contact with his victim’s family.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: ‘Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Joanne Tulip.

‘Steven Ling will be on licence for the rest of his life, with strict conditions and intensive probation supervision after he is released, including not to contact Joanne’s family.

‘He faces an immediate return to prison if he breaks the rules.’

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