CAMPAIGNERS battling to clear blind Yvonne Sleightholme's name have won a legal boost.

For years, David Hamilton and Margaret Leonard have been investigating Sleightholme's conviction in 1991 for the murder of a Ryedale farmer's wife.

They have spent many thousands of hours looking in depth at various aspects of the law and studying the case, which they believe may represent a serious miscarriage of justice.

But with no legal aid available, they have been unable to receive professional advice, and were unrepresented in their most recent hearing at the Court of Appeal last year.

But they are now receiving free legal advice from barrister Michael Shrimpton after successfully applying to the Bar Pro Bono Unit for assistance.

This organisation was set up in 1996 to provide free legal advice and representation in deserving cases where Legal Aid was not available, and has since given help in more than 1,400 cases.

Mr Shrimpton, based at chambers in London, has been involved in various high-profile court cases over the years, most recently the "metric martyrs" case involving traders who want to stick with imperial measurements.

Sleightholme was jailed at Leeds Crown Court in 1991 for shooting dead Jayne Smith in a farmyard near Salton, Malton.

Miss Leonard said the assistance from the Pro Bono Unit could represent a key breakthrough in their efforts to find out the truth about the case.

"For a person in Yvonne's position after a trial and appeal, it becomes enormously difficult to re-open a case," she said.

"There may be legal avenues which can be explored by the Pro Bono Unit which we, as amateurs, have not been able to go down."

Updated: 10:59 Wednesday, March 06, 2002