Murdered aunt case goes to appeal

The case of Sheila Bowler, jailed for life in 1993 for the murder of her late husband's elderly aunt, has been referred to the Court of Appeal by Michael Howard, the Home Secretary. Bowler, a music teacher from Rye, East Sussex, was found guilty at Hove Crown Court of pushing 89-year-old Florence Jackson into the River Brede, apparently to secure her inheritance from being eaten up by nursing home fees.

On 1 May 1995, she appealed against her conviction but the appeal judges did not accept the expert geriatric evidence put before them that Aunt Flo could have been much more mobile than anyone realised.

Mr Howard has now decided that new material submitted by her laywers - primarily medical evidence about the mobility of elderly people - has merited her case being sent back for a second appeal.