Sadistic murderer carved images into a woman’s skin and stabbed her 60 times

A sadistic killer raped and murdered a 29-year-old woman and carved images into her skin before attempting to set her body on fire.

Stephen Ling, now 48, was a farm worker who raped Joanne Tulip and stabbed her 60 times on Christmas Day 1997. Ling, 23, mutilated Joanne’s body, carving crosses and swastikas into it before and after her death. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998.

Ling admitted raping Joanne, but the trial judge allowed that offence to remain on the record because murder was the more serious charge. This means that Ling will not be on the sex offenders’ register when he is released because he was not convicted of rape.

Last year the Parole Board recommended his release to an open prison, a decision that was overturned by then Justice Secretary Dominic Raab. Today the convicted murderer faces a public parole hearing in the prison where he is being held.

Joanne’s mother, Doreen Soulsby, took part in a review of the parole system in 2020 and called for “openness” in high-profile cases. She told how “a wall went up” for her family when Ling was jailed. They were only informed of his prisoner categorisation.

Doreen, from Wall, Northumberland, said: “He had been doing some things since he was 12 which he did not report. This escalated with what he did to Joanne at the age of 23. Everything he did and the order in which he did them came from his own mind. He was not fantasising or copying them, he was not mad, as psychiatric assessments and reports from the time confirmed. You cannot cure someone like that.”

She described Ling as “entirely sexually motivated”, adding: “I think it’s important for the public to know what kind of offender the parole board is considering for release and I think it’s just as important this time. We don’t know when he did all these carvings on her. However, he is not a convicted sex offender and is not on the sex offenders’ register.”

Sentencing at Newcastle Crown Court in 1998, Judge Potts told Ling: “You inflicted appalling injuries on (Joanne) while you were having sexual intercourse with her. I am also satisfied that your motivation was sadistic… You will never be released as long as you are considered to be a danger to women.”

Ling has made four parole applications since his life sentence. In 2020, it was recommended that Ling be moved to an open prison, but then Justice Secretary Robert Buckland blocked the move. A parole board report seen by the Telegraph said Ling had “developed insight into the triggers and motivation for the index offence (murder) and a greater ability to cope with and manage his problems”.

Doreen told the same newspaper she was appealing to her local MP to petition Mr Raab to prevent Ling’s move. She told the paper: “It is disturbing that these violent sex offenders are being sent to open prisons. He was only 23 when he murdered my daughter. He had no chance to socialise or develop relationships with women. I cannot believe he is not a danger.”