A MAN serving life for murder is to be allowed to appeal against his conviction after judges heard that a lipreader's evidence gathered for another defendant's case could have prejudiced his own.

Jonathan Mark Embleton, 26, of Trefoil Court, Norton, near Stockton, was convicted at Teesside Crown Court in November 2000, along with with Stephen George Ham and Mark Graham.

He was said to have murdered elderly eccentric Mohammed Shariff during a burglary of his premises in April 1999. At his trial, he denied being at the scene.

David Hatton QC, appearing for Embleton, told London's Appeal Court that the lipreading evidence had been taken from a prison visitors' room.

The security camera recordings had been done covertly, but with the permission of a judge, for use at an earlier hearing involving Ham, which was later aborted, the court heard.

When "translated" by the lipreader, the footage revealed a conversation between a visitor to the prison where the third accused, Graham, was being held and captured him telling his visitor information that firmly placed Embleton at the scene of the crime.

Mr Hatton said there was a "very real concern" that the jury would have "illegitimate-ly taken account of the evidence of the covert recordings . . . It is difficult to accept that the jury can have ignored it."

Lord Justice Buxton, sitting with Mr Justice Crane and Mr Justice Henriques, agreed with Mr Hatton that the jury could have inferred from the lipreader's evidence that, as well as being present, Embleton participated in the fatal attack.

No date was set for the full hearing of Embleton's appeal.