THE campaigning parents of murdered East Lancashire nurse Jane Clough have spoken of their pleasure at helping change the criminal justice system.

John and Penny Clough said they have taken some comfort from their continued progress with their Justice For Jane campaign.

Jane, 26, from Barrowford, was murdered by her ex-partner Jonathan Vass in July 2010 after he was bailed on charges of raping her.

Since her death, the Cloughs have pushed for changes to the Bail Act to allow an appeal against a judge’s granting of bail. These have won government backing and look set to be adopted in the new year.

Now another of their aims - to ask the victim’s family before allowing rape charges to lie on the file in a murder case - is being sent out as draft guidance to prosecutors.

The couple expressed their views in a meeting with Director of Public Prosecutions figure Keir Starmer and Mr Clough, 51, said the news ‘can only be good for victims’ families’.

He said: “We are pleased that Mr Starmer has listened to our points about justice being seen to be done and including the family in the decision to prosecute or not, rather than just telling them what is going to happen regardless of their views or opinions.

“It closes a loophole in the law that allows violent sex offenders to get away with serious offences and not have to answer for them.

“It sends out the right message to rapists - that they will not get away with it - and victims will have increased confidence that they will be taken seriously, and that the law will not just brush charges away.

“If we had had that option, Vass would have certainly been tried for rape, as we were led to believe would happen all along. We believe this is a good step forward for victims and their families.”

The Cloughs will again travel to London in January for the second reading of Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson's Bail amendment bill and hope to present their petitions with 15,000 online signatures and 12,000 paper signatures, to Downing Street.