THE family of murdered pensioner Joan Albert said last night they remained convinced the man convicted of her killing is guilty.A team of law students from Bristol University's Innocence Project are currently re-examining the case of Simon Hall in a bid to uncover fresh evidence which could help his bid for an appeal.

By Danielle Nuttall

THE family of murdered pensioner Joan Albert said last night they remained convinced the man convicted of her killing is guilty.

A team of law students from Bristol University's Innocence Project are currently re-examining the case of Simon Hall in a bid to uncover fresh evidence which could help his bid for an appeal.

The initial stages of their work featured on BBC documentary, The Innocents' Brief: A Rough Justice Special, on Thursday, where it was claimed new scientific tests could cast doubt on the 29-year-old's conviction.

Mrs Albert's killer is believed to have broken into her Capel St Mary home through a window.

The prosecution's main evidence at trial was that tiny flock fibres discovered at Hall's home and car matched those found at the scene of her murder.

But the documentary said new tests on the original frame from Mrs Albert's window indicated it would not have been possible for someone to have smashed the window and got through it without getting tiny fragments of glass ingrained on their clothes.

The fibres that convicted Hall bore no traces of glass.

But speaking last night, Glynis Dzundza, Mrs Albert's niece, said the programme had not altered their belief he was guilty.

“There was nothing in the programme to make us change our mind,” she said.

“The evidence they used was theoretical. We are in close liaison with the police and we know for a fact that the exhibits and evidence used in court is still in police possession.

“These were the exhibits and evidence that the jury found him guilty 11/1 on and that's what we based our view on.”

She added: “We felt the programme was very one-sided. For example, there was no mention of the fact that the fibres were never found anywhere else despite an extensive and thorough police search of homes and cars across the county, including our own.”

Hall's case has now been referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission to decide whether there are grounds for appeal.

But Jess Wood, one of the students reviewing his case, said the team was planning further intensive research this summer and would not give up.

“It would be a shame to give up now because we have got this far. We are definitely continuing working on it,” she said.

“All of us have a lot of doubts about the conviction. There were anomalies but they need to be investigated by the CCRC.

“As the programme made clear, at the moment we have nothing actually concrete to say it's unsafe. That's the hope, that the CCRC will find something.

“We're planning intensive work in the summer, if we can get solicitors' go-ahead. The plan is to contact experts to see if anyone of them is useful.”

Hall, from Ipswich, has always maintained he did not kill 79-year-old Mrs Albert at her home.

Mrs Dzundza said that a meeting with the law students and her family had not been ruled out.