CAMPAIGNERS fighting to clear the name of blind killer Yvonne Sleightholme are taking her case to the European Court of Human Rights.

David Hamilton and Margaret Leonard say they will go to Strasbourg to argue that Sleightholme - jailed ten years ago for the murder of a farmer's wife - 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.

She is serving a life sentence for shooting Jayne Smith in a farmyard at Salton, near Malton, in 1988, and has been blind since shortly after her arrest.

Sleightholme has vowed that she would never admit to the murder of Mrs Smith - who had married her former fiancee, William Smith - even if it meant spending the rest of her life in jail.

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

In a statement, Mr Hamilton and Miss Leonard, from London, said: "The acceptance of a case by the Strasbourg court is not automatic, but Yvonne has passed her first hurdle. Her case has been accepted and will be considered by a judge who will report to the court after a preliminary examination."

The campaign had suffered a setback last year when the Criminal Cases Review Commission refused to refer her case back to the Court of Appeal. The High Court also threw out an application for leave to apply for a judicial review of the decision.