THE new chairman of the Bar Council has admitted that the family of the murdered Billingham pizza delivery girl Julie Hogg have been let down by British justice.

Matthias Kelly, the newly-appointed chairman of the body representing and regulating barristers, has vowed to campaign to keep the double jeopardy rule, despite the continued campaign by Julie's mother, Ann Ming and her family - supported by The Northern Echo - to overturn the 800-year-old rule.

Double jeopardy stops anyone being tried twice for the same crime and it has prevented Julie' self-confessed killer Billy Dunlop from facing court again.

The labourer told a prison officer he had strangled Julie while he was serving a prison sentence for an unrelated crime. Despite his confession he could not be retried as he had already been acquitted. Instead, he was found guilty of perjury for lying in his original case.

Following Mr Kelly's appointment, Mrs Ming wrote to him asking what he would do if his daughter's killer was walking free because of the ancient ruling.

In his reply, Mr Kelly said he understood Mrs Ming's reaction, but still believed double jeopardy should remain. He said he was worried that acquitted defendants could be harassed by the police and Press before a re-trial and it could encourage less thorough police investigations.

He went on to say any new trial could be unfair as the judge and jury would know that to have reached that stage new evidence must have been found.

Mr Kelly said: "Overall, I believe there is a likelihood that the removal of the rule is more likely to lead to greater frequency of injustice.

"My concern is with the broader picture, but I recognise that in doing so, as in your case, an injustice has occurred and the current system has let you down."

Read more about the Criminal Injustice campaign here.