Mum ‘fears for safety of all women’ after daughter’s sadistic killer is released
Share:
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.
![[Dated: 22/01/2025 Doreen Soulsby, from Wall, Northum,berland, who says she fears for the safety of women after killer Steven Ling was released from prison today (WED), almost 30 years after he brutally raped and murdered her daughter Joanne Tulip, 29, on Christmas Day, 1997. See story North News]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236949831-fb22-e1737582325295.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
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.
![[Dated: 22/01/2025 Pictured is Joanne Doreen Soulsby, from Wall, Northum,berland, who says she fears for the safety of women after killer Steven Ling was released from prison today (WED), almost 30 years after he brutally raped and murdered her daughter Joanne Tulip, 29, on Christmas Day, 1997. See story North News]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236949886-ab47-e1737582305895.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
‘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.’.
![[Dated: 22/01/2025 Pictured is Steven Ling. Doreen Soulsby, from Wall, Northum,berland, who says she fears for the safety of women after killer Steven Ling was released from prison today (WED), almost 30 years after he brutally raped and murdered her daughter Joanne Tulip, 29, on Christmas Day, 1997. See story North News]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236949832-71f4-e1737582339953.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
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.
