Teesside campaigner Ann Ming MBE received the first standing ovation in the history of Tees Business LIVE after speaking about the determination that carried a deeply personal campaign all the way to a change in British law.
Ann, from Norton, spoke to an audience of around 85 people at The Auxiliary in Middlesbrough. Her decades-long campaign followed the murder of her daughter Julie Hogg and ultimately helped secure reform of the double jeopardy law, allowing acquittals in serious cases to be reconsidered when compelling new emerges.
The significance of that achievement reaches well beyond one family. The change has since allowed other families to pursue justice in circumstances where the old law would previously have closed the door.
Speaking at the event, Ann described determination as something ordinary people can discover when circumstances demand it. Her message to the room was practical: deal with enormous challenges step by step and keep going through the setbacks.
At the end of the interview, the audience rose to applaud her. Tees Business said it was the first standing ovation at one of its LIVE events.
The appearance followed another major local recognition last year, when Ann received the Jane Turner Award for Outstanding Contribution at the Tees Businesswomen Awards.