A MOTHER given a life sentence for murdering her husband takes her case to appeal next week.

Donna Tinker told a judge and jury she "flipped" when she killed her partner Richard at their home in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, in 1999.

At first, she told police she hit him with a lamp during a row, but later admitted she had stabbed him in the back after he had threatened her with an iron and taunted her about being abused when she was a child.

The differing accounts of what happened prompted the Honourable Mr Justice Smedley to tell the jury at Leeds Crown Court that the fact Tinker lied should be taken as evidence to support the prosecution case.

However, since her trial in April 2000, pressure group Justice For Women has been campaigning to have the conviction for murder overturned.

New evidence has come to light, suggesting Tinker's husband did threaten her with an iron before she hit out with the kitchen knife.

Tinker's three children are living with their grandparents and her daughter has since told them she remembers the incident.

A witness who gave evidence for the prosecution at the trial also remembers a neighbour telling her that Tinker mentioned she was threatened with a hot iron shortly before her arrest in June 1999.

As a result, a hearing has been arranged at the Court of Appeal in London on Monday, where lawyers will try to have Tinker's conviction quashed.

In a statement, released on the Justice for Women website, Tinker says: "The depth of pain and remorse I feel for my husband dying by my hand is something I am incapable of putting into words.

"I never wanted or meant for this to happen.

"It started as just another argument that moved, as it always did, to him hitting me. This night in particular, he kicked me in the face and punched me. Then he picked a hot iron up and I panicked. I was just trying to stop him hurting me any more.

"I couldn't and still can't make sense of my trial. No witnesses were called in my defence. I trusted my legal team, as in a situation like this you have no choice but to put your trust in them."