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A man's murder conviction for a Birkenhead woman's death is set to be reviewed after concerns have been raised over whether a partial defence was properly considered at his trial, as reported by the BBC.
Nicholas Curtis was jailed for a minimum of 18 years alongside his brother Stuart Curtis following the murder of 44-year-old Glenda Jackson in 2018.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has referred Nicholas Curtis's case to the Court of Appeal, saying there is a real possibility his murder conviction could be found unsafe.
The review centres on the partial defence of loss of control, which the CCRC said was not properly considered by the trial judge or put before the jury during the 2018 trial.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Ms Jackson confronted a group of men near her home on John Street on 30 September 2018. She had reportedly raised concerns about homophobic abuse from associates of the brothers before her murder.
It was alleged that Ms Jackson attacked a van belonging to Nicholas Curtis with a hammer and a knife before the brothers assaulted her.
Prosecutors said Nicholas Curtis stabbed Ms Jackson five times, while his brother kicked and stamped on her head.
Nicholas Curtis claimed he had acted in self-defence, telling the court that Ms Jackson had lunged at him and stabbed him twice. He said she sustained her fatal injuries during a struggle.
Prosecutors argued even if she had attacked the brothers, their response to her attack went beyond regular self-defence.
The CCRC said there was no record of the trial judge's reasoning on whether the jury should have been allowed to consider the partial defence of loss of control.
It added that the defence was not raised by either the prosecution or defence during the trial and was not included in Nicholas Curtis's grounds for appeal.
The commission said that if the defence had been presented to the jury and accepted by them, Curtis would have been acquitted of murder and convicted of manslaughter instead.
The case has now been referred to the Court of Appeal. They will consider whether the murder conviction can stand.
