Britain:The Irish uncle of Barry George, the man convicted of BBC television presenter Jill Dando's murder, believes his nephew will never be let out of prison if he is not cleared of her murder.
Mike Bourke, from Limerick, has welcomed the decision by the Criminal Cases Review Commission on Tuesday to refer the case to the Court of Appeal after "a thorough and intensive review".
The decision was based on new evidence which calls into question firearms discharge evidence used by the prosecution at George's original Old Bailey trial "and the significance attached to that evidence".
Mr Bourke said he is not expecting the conviction to be quashed easily. "It's his best chance of getting out but I'm pretty sure the prosecution won't give up without a hell of a fight," he said. "I don't think it will be easy. The credibility of the British police is at stake.
"It's seven years since Barry was arrested and put into prison. By Irish standards he'll have a life sentence done. If we don't get him out through the legal system I have this fear that he'll never, ever get out.
"There are a few unnamed prisoners in Britain that will never get out and I'm afraid he could be one of them." The BBC's flagship programme Panorama last year cast huge doubts over forensic evidence and the evidence of key witnesses. It also revealed that two jurors are now unhappy with the original conviction.
His sister Michelle Diskin, who lives in Cork, and Mr Bourke have always insisted George was innocent of the high-profile, execution-style killing of Ms Dando.
In April 1999, Ms Dando (37), the former travel show presenter and host of the BBC's crime show Crimewatch, was shot in the head near her London home.
George was arrested a year later and convicted of the murder in 2001. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, and then lost an appeal in 2002. Mr Bourke has always insisted that the police did not follow proper procedures when they tested his nephew's coat and found a speck of gunpowder dust on the inside pocket.
He said: "The coat in which a single particle of firearms residue was found was removed from its sealed parcel before testing and draped on a tailor's dummy over the shirt of an arms-registered policeman. This was done in a police photographic studio where firearms had been stored.
"The other forensic evidence was a fibre from one of his trousers found on the body but it was a very common trouser fibre."
He said the tide of opinion has turned in favour of his nephew. "The media branded him as guilty the moment he was arrested but when he was convicted they immediately questioned it. He definitely wants to get out. He was very depressed after losing his appeal but he will be hopeful now. His life has been destroyed by this."