BBC'S crusading Rough Justice programme has taken up the cause of Simon Hall, the man convicted of murdering Capel St Mary pensioner Joan Albert.

BBC'S crusading Rough Justice programme has taken up the cause of Simon Hall, the man convicted of murdering Capel St Mary pensioner Joan Albert.

The documentary, due to be aired towards the end of next month, will follow university students investigating a possible miscarriage of justice.

Mrs Albert, 79, was stabbed to death at her home in Boydlands in December 2001. Hall, now 28 and formerly of Hill House Road, Ipswich, was convicted of her murder in February 2003, but he, his family and friends have always maintained his innocence under the banner of their Justice4Simon campaign.

Cathy Elliot, BBC producer for the Rough Justice programme which is in its advanced stages of production, said: “We get a lot of letters each week from prisoners all around the country proclaiming their innocence. We have a lawyer who works on Rough Justice cases and she goes through them very carefully to see which to pursue further.

“Simon Hall's was one of the cases she felt really was worth looking into in more detail, because he seemed to have been convicted on such flimsy evidence.”

The one-hour programme will follow five University of Bristol Innocence Project students, who took up Hall's case to investigate.

The documentary will see them travelling to Glasgow to look at forensic evidence, speaking to a leading QC in London, consulting forensic expert Doctor Peter Bull at Oxford University and talking to Hall in prison.

Hall's mother, Lynne, said: “The family and everyone connected with Justice 4Simon were thrilled when we realised that Simon's case had been chosen out of hundreds they all hear about every day and the team also felt Simon's case would benefit greatly from this media coverage and could well tap into people's memories, who then may come forward with further evidence.

“We know the truth is out there and that there must be more than one person holding on to information that they don't realise the importance of or are too scared to repeat. It is just tapping into it. We haven't seen the film yet, but I hope and pray it clearly shows, what we passionately believe, that Simon is, and has always been, innocent.”

What do you think? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.

The University of Bristol Innocence Project (UoBIP) is the first dedicated student-led innocence project in the UK, a pro bono legal clinic which teaches law through exposure to live-clients.

Established in January 2005 the project is part of the Innocence Network UK and is a collaborative venture of undergraduate law students working under academic supervision and guidance from criminal solicitors. The students then investigate individual cases in pursuit of grounds for possible appeal and/or an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).