A MAN jailed for the murder of his ex-girlfriend has been granted leave to appeal for a reopening of his case.

Kevin Nunn, from Woolpit, was sentenced to a minimum of 22-years in prison after 39-year-old Dawn Walker’s body was found near the River Lark, close to her home in Fornham All Saints, in February 2005.

The 50-year-old, his family and legal team have been calling for forensic evidence, held by Suffolk police, to be re-examined in the belief that DNA could now be obtained.

Although a High Court challenge failed in May, a Supreme Court appeal panel this week granted Nunn leave to appeal against the decision.

Yesterday his solicitor Jane Hickman, of Hickman & Rose Solicitors, said: “A defendant only goes to the Court of Appeal once, unless the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) sends it back for a second look.

“We want to get the CCRC to send it back but we have not got the material.

“But what we do have is, we know that sperm was found on the body. DNA couldn’t be obtained from it in 2005, but we say it could be obtained now.”

She added: “If any DNA could be found it would be hugely important because it would be absurd, if it was someone else’s, to maintain that Kevin had killed Dawn Walker.”

Nunn’s sister, Brigitte Butcher, 53, said the process had been “emotionally and financially draining”.

She added: “It is so destructive and we feel for the Walker family as well, because each time we bring it up it opens up things for them. But it is not closure, we need to get to the truth.

“There is a sperm sample, fingerprints, hair found on Dawn’s phone, all these things need to be looked at again. With the advances in technology all these things can be retested and give us a better picture.

“None of the evidence stacks up and we will not stop fighting for justice, not just for Kevin but for Ms Walker too,”

Ms Butcher, who has moved away from Suffolk because of the case, said her brother had called her from Garth Prison in Lancashire after the latest ruling.

During Nunn’s trial in 2006, the court was told that he had killed Ms Walker after a row before burning her body and dumping it near the river.

Nunn said told the jury that another man had been in a relationship with Ms Walker and it was this person that was responsible for her death.

A spokesman for Suffolk Constabulary said: “Suffolk Police are aware of the decision of the Supreme Court panel and along with our colleagues from the CPS we will await any further developments.”