Justice . . . at last

Julie Hogg was killed in 1989. Her former boyfriend Billy Dunlop was accused of her murder soon afterwards but two juries failed to reach a verdict and he was acquitted.
Mr Dunlop was later jailed for other offences and, during his interment, admitted to a prison officer that he had killed Julie, knowing that he could not be tried again for the same crime under the 800-year-old double jeopardy law.
He reckoned without Julie's mum and her husband. They campaigned, along with many others, to have the law changed so that - should new compelling evidence be forthcoming - a person could be charged again on the same crime. The law was changed in 2003 and the Appeal Court ruled that Billy Dunlop should be tried again on the charge of murdering Julie Hogg.
Dunlop was sentenced to a minimum term of 17 years imprisonment - which coincidentally is the time it took from the original murder to his conviction. Julie's mum and her son - three years old when she was killed - have already served 17 years of pain and grief knowing that her killer was free. Now they can rest a little easier knowing that her killer has finally been made to pay a price for her killing.
Prison sentences will not right the wrong. Julie cannot be brought back from the dead. But at least we know that - at last - justice has been done.
There are other crimes - especially murders - where it has been obvious who the killers are but legal technicalities have led to acquittals. Let us hope that justice will prevail in these cases under the new law. I don't want "trial by tabloid" to lead to convictions but I would like to see real criminals brought to justice by legal means.