ExclusiveA FORMER RAF squadron leader convicted of murdering his wife has outlined his hopes for proving his innocence.Speaking to the EADT from his prison cell in Cardiff, Nicholas Tucker described his case as a "complex jigsaw puzzle", and accused the courts of relying on "circumstantial speculation or theory" rather than facts.

A FORMER RAF squadron leader convicted of murdering his wife has outlined his hopes for proving his innocence.

Speaking to the EADT from his prison cell in Cardiff, Nicholas Tucker described his case as a "complex jigsaw puzzle", and accused the courts of relying on "circumstantial speculation or theory" rather than facts.

Tucker, who served at RAF Honington, was convicted of drowning his 52-year-old wife Carol during a car crash following a trial at Norwich Crown Court in 1997.

The Crown Prosecution Service said he had staged the accident to cover his tracks, while citing an affair the officer had with Serbian translator Dijana Dudukovic as a motive for the alleged crime.

But Tucker, who has always proclaimed his innocence and says his car careered into the River Lark, at Lackford, after he swerved to avoid a deer, is now pinning his hopes for freedom on a judicial review.

Despite a failed appeal and a refusal by the Criminal Complaints Review Commission (CCRC) to grant a second hearing, the 52-year-old and his fiancée Jenny Peacock now hope such action will eventually lead to his release.

Tucker told the EADT: "We are manoeuvring through various judicial processes to get back to court, which seems to take forever.

"One problem we have is that there are so many new findings that it is like a complex jigsaw puzzle and very difficult for many people to comprehend.

"The CCRC has said the evidence is not new if the subject was discussed in court, yet the difference and significance is in the details within the various subjects.

"The truth of my case lies in the laws of physics, maths and medical science relating to the crash, not circumstantial speculation or theory.

"The only way to approach it is to detail the original prosecution case and then compare that with the new evidence – much of which was never used in the first place. Sadly, it seems that too many people either do not have the time, cannot be bothered, or simply do not understand what is being said."

New evidence throwing Tucker's conviction into doubt was uncovered by Channel 4's Trial and Error programme, during which the car crash was reconstructed with experts saying the former officer would have been knocked unconscious following the impact.

But his fiancée Miss Peacock, who lives in Thetford, said large sections of this evidence – along with reports by five separate pathologists which suggested there was no proof Carol had been murdered – were ignored by workers assigned to Tucker's case.

"We are now waiting for four judges to make a decision on the evidence," she said. "I want them to realise this is a terrible miscarriage of justice so we can return to the appeal courts as soon as possible.

"The whole thing has dragged on for so long – Nick has been in prison for nearly six years, and we feel like doors are constantly being slammed in our faces all the time.

"It seems people have totally disregarded all the evidence from medical experts which proved he was knocked unconscious."

Earlier this year, Tucker released a statement to mark the eighth anniversary of Carol's death. In it, he told of the "horror beyond description" which haunts him.

"To lose your wife, whom you have loved and lived with for 21 years, is a heart-rending experience," he said.

"To do so in an accident, which you yourself feel responsible for, is traumatic. But to be arrested, charged, tried and convicted of having murdered her is a mental and psychological horror beyond description.

"Carol's death was an accident, though I always have and always will feel responsible because I was driving the car that night."