The mother of the woman who was raped and murdered by Steven Ling on Christmas Day 25 years ago said she is “relieved and delighted” after his bid to move to an open prison was blocked.
The parole board recommended that the sadistic killer, who is now 47, should be transferred to a low-security facility last month, but it was overruled by justice secretary Dominic Raab.
It came after a desperate plea from the mother of his victim Joanne Tulip - the 29-year-old hairdresser who was raped and stabbed 60 times by Ling in Stamfordham, Northumberland, after he lured her to his home in 1997.
