Steven Ling’s brutal murder of 29-year-old Joanne Tulip shocked the nation in 1997
A killer who stabbed a woman 60 times has been cleared to be freed by the parole board. Steven Ling, now 50, was jailed for life in 1998 for murdering Joanne Tulip, 29, in Stamfordham, Northumberland, on Christmas Day, 1997. He carved images including swastikas and crosses into her body.
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. The Parole Board was asked by the Lord Chancellor to reconsider its September ruling that Ling should be released after serving 27 years of his life sentence. But they refused, insisting Ling was to be freed.
Joanne’s mum Doreen Soulsby condemned the decision. She told the Mirror that she had seen reports that indicated Ling was still fixated by sex. She believes that he is dangerous and will attack again if he is released.
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And he could come across members of her family as he has relatives who live around half an hour away, despite a 5-10 mile ‘exclusion zone’ around her home address in Wall, Northumberland.
“He still has sexual thoughts in prison, he is preoccupied by sex and fantasies about sex,” she said. “I fear for women and young girls when he is freed. He has had sexual feelings in his head since he was 13. There were incidents involving him from a young age which progressed to what he did to my Joanne.”
Ling admitted rape but the charge was left to lie on file meaning he has not been classed as a sex offender. The judge ruled that he should not be released as long as he posed a danger to women.
A Parole Board spokesman said “based on the evidence” the application for reconsideration “will be refused”. “Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public and whether that risk is manageable in the community,” he said.
Doreen said public confidence in the justice system would “be broken and shattered forever with no way of repairing it”. She added: “How can anyone have faith in our justice system when victims get these outcomes?” At a hearing in July this year, two psychologists said Ling should be freed from prison and spoke about his enduring “shame” about his “monstrous” past.
His pending release was subject to conditions which included 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.
But Ling will not be on the Sex Offenders’ Register because he was not convicted of rape. The Ministry of Justice was “disappointed” with the outcome but “respect the independent Parole Board’s decision”.
A MoJ spokesperson stressed Ling will be on licence “for the rest of his life, with strict conditions and probation supervision after he is released. He faces an immediate return to prison if he breaks the rules,” they added.
Doreen is part of the ‘Killed Women’ campaign which raises awareness of the ‘injustice’ for bereaved families whose daughters, mothers, sisters or other relatives have been killed by men.
She gave a personal statement to the Parole Board with husband Wayne Soulsby, and son Michael Tulip. The Crown Prosecution Service said rape charges should only be left to lie on file in ‘exceptional circumstances’. Prosecutors are advised to seek the views of victims’ families, a spokesperson said.
