WITH a huge grin on her face and a twinkle in her eye, Ann Ming declared triumphantly that justice for her murdered daughter was a step closer.

Mrs Ming and her husband, Charlie, had travelled to London for a debate due to take place on the "double jeopardy" law.

She wanted to tell the Lords why she has tirelessly campaigned for the 800-year-old law to be abolished.

The couple emerged from their meeting into bright summer sun, hardly able to contain their glee that they had climbed another rung on the ladder.

Accompanied by their MP, Frank Cook, they had met Attorney General Lord Goldsmith in what they hoped would be their chance to get Julie Hogg's story across.

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her husband, and after a phone call to her grandson Kevin, Mrs Ming said: "The meeting went very well. My points were listened to and it is another step closer to justice for Julie."

It is 14 years since Julie was found dead, and in that time the couple have never wavered in their determination to bring her self-confessed killer, Billy Dunlop, to justice.

Labourer Dunlop confessed to the Billingham mother's murder after two juries had failed to reach a verdict.

Under double jeopardy, no one can be tried twice for the same crime and, after his confession, Dunlop could only be convicted of perjury for lying in his original trial.

Since 1989, and backed by The Northern Echo, they have worked tirelessly to have the ancient law overturned and have met with support groups, the Law Commission and now the Lords.

Mrs Ming said she cannot allow herself time to get nervous before these meetings, and often does not have anything prepared beforehand.

She said: "Everything I say just comes from the heart.

"All I really ask people is how they would feel if it was their son or daughter. What you have to remember is these people may be lords, but at the end of the day, they are just like you or I."

It is probably this belief that has allowed Mrs Ming to address people such as Jack Straw to try to get the law overturned.

She said: "It is an 800-year-old law and yet in that time, no one has stood up to question it.

"How many times do you read stories in magazines and newspapers of someone who has murdered somebody else, later admitted it and got away with it. It is shocking and that it why we have to fight."