UK court quashes New Zealander's murder conviction
Source: AP
LONDON (AP) — Britain's Privy Council on Monday quashed the conviction of a New Zealand businessman who had received a life sentence for the murders of his wife and daughter and ruled that he should be granted a new trial in New Zealand.
It was an unusual intervention by the Privy Council Judicial Committee, which at the height of the British Empire was a very powerful body but still retains important powers now as a last ditch court of appeals.
A five-judge panel ruled in favor of Mark Lundy, who was convicted in New Zealand in 2002 after a jury decided he had attacked his wife Christine, 38, and his daughter Amber, 7, with a weapon similar to a tomahawk at the family home.
Lundy received a mandatory life sentence and his appeal was dismissed by the New Zealand Court of Appeals later in 2002.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/uk-court-quashes-new-zealanders-murder-conviction
See also:
"Mark Lundy wins new trial" (New Zealand Herald)
"New Zealand businessman Mark Lundy set for retrial after 12 years in jail as he wins appeal in UK court over murder conviction" (The Independent, UK)
