THE battle to clear the name of blind Yvonne Sleightholme is going to the European Court of Human Rights.

Campaigners David Hamilton and Margaret Leonard are arguing that Sleightholme - jailed in 1991 for the murder of Ryedale farmer's wife Jayne Smith - was not given a fair trial.

They are also claiming that the UK judicial system has subsequently failed to provide Sleightholme with appropriate remedies in the British courts.

And their hopes of success in Strasbourg have been boosted by news that barristers and solicitors are now prepared to advise and represent Sleightholme in court without charging a fee.

Sleightholme is serving a life sentence for shooting dead Mrs Smith in a farmyard at Salton, near Malton, in 1988. She has been blind since shortly after her arrest. She lost a crucial round in the fight to clear her name in January, when the High Court threw out an application for leave to apply for a judicial review of a decision by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

The commission had refused last year to refer her case back to the Court of Appeal despite claims by the campaigners to have unearthed fresh evidence, for example about a number of footprints found in the farmyard, which they felt made her conviction unsafe.

Sleightholme vowed afterwards she would never admit to the murder, even though her continuing protestations of innocence may mean many more years in prison.

The application to the European Court is based on the grounds that the judicial system failed to carry out its obligations under Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention on Human Rights.

"The acceptance of a case by the Strasbourg court is not automatic, but Yvonne has passed her first hurdle," said Mr Hamilton and Miss Leonard, from London, in a statement.

"Her case has been accepted and will be considered by a judge who will report to the court after a preliminary examination."

They said that if the case continued to pass successfully through the system, the final hearing would take place before a panel of judges from many countries.

They were now entitled to go to the European court because all domestic procedures had been exhausted.

Updated: 11:21 Wednesday, August 08, 2001