Man who maintains innocence is granted an appeal
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
A 67-year-old prisoner who could have walked free 10 years ago by admitting to a murder he claims he did not commit is to have his case reheard by the Court of Appeal.
A 67-year-old prisoner who could have walked free 10 years ago by admitting to a murder he claims he did not commit is to have his case reheard by the Court of Appeal.
Harold Williams was jailed for life 23 years ago for the murder of his ex-lover, divorceé Dorothy Margaret Davies, 41.
Mrs Davies, the former wife of the Hereford rugby captain, Robin Davies, was found bound, gagged, strangled and stabbed at her home in Tupsley, Hereford and Worcester. But Mr Williams, a former coach driver with three children, has always protested his innocence.
He has consistently refused to sign a life licence that would have allowed him to go free but meant admitting that he was guilty. His first application for an appeal was rejected in 1979, two years after he was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court.
But the Criminal Cases Review Commission has been re-examining the case since it took responsibility for referring cases to the Court of Appeal from the Home Secretary three years ago. Yesterday the commission ruled that the pensioner's case should be heard by the Court of Appeal.
Williams's daughter, Teryema Wheatstone, 36, from Hereford, said she was overjoyed at the news."This is a very happy day but there is still some way to go," she said.
The former MEP David Hallam, who has been campaigning for Williams, added: "I have been fighting this case for the past six years but I am aware the family has been campaigning for 23 years.
"We are aware there is someone out there who knows who committed this crime and we would ask them to come forward now and end this tragic story as quickly as possible."
Williams, who lived with Mrs Davies "on and off" for a year before their relationship broke up, was seen outside the house where her body was found just days before the killing, the jury at his trial was told.