IS THIS the picture which could prove Yvonne Sleightholme innocent of murder?

Sleightholme was jailed for life in 1991 for killing love rival Jayne Smith in a remote Ryedale farmyard.

Two supporters claim to have unearthed vital pieces of evidence never put before the jury, including this picture. It shows Sleightholme's hand compared with the outline of a bloody handprint found on the parcel shelf of her car - which the prosecution alleged she made.

Her supporters claim her hand is clearly too small to have done so.

CAMPAIGNERS revealed today why they are convinced Yvonne Sleightholme is the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice.

Sleightholme - serving life for the murder of love rival Jayne Smith in a remote Ryedale farmyard in 1989 - recently lost her bid for the case to be referred back to the Court of Appeal by the independent Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Now the two supporters who submitted her unsuccessful application to the Commission have opened up their extensive files to public scrutiny for the first time in an exclusive interview with the Evening Press.

Margaret Leonard and David Hamilton claim to have unearthed important pieces of evidence never presented to the jury at Sleightholme's trial in 1991, which they believe would have helped prove her innocence.

In their 150-page document to the Commission, Miss Leonard and Mr Hamilton claimed:

A bloody handprint found on the parcel shelf of Sleightholme's car was too large to have been caused by her, as alleged by the prosecution, but the jury was not invited to compare the print with Sleightholme's hands, instead being shown a postcard-sized print. To back up this claim, the campaigners obtained a photograph of one of Sleightholme's hands touching the shelf while she was in prison at Durham.

The jury was only informed about one type of Wellington boot print found in the yard of Broats Farm at Salton, near Malton, when several unidentified prints were actually found in areas sealed off by police after the murder. These prints would have supported Sleightholme's claim that several hitmen were involved, they say.

There was a gap in a fence at the back of the farm which the jury was not told about, and which could have been used by Jayne's attackers to get away from the farm.

The Commission, responding, said it could only refer a conviction if, in its opinion, there was a real possibility it would not be upheld. "In this case, the Commission does not feel there is such a real possibility."

It accepted a police officer had understated the number of wellington bootprints when giving evidence to the court. But it did not feel the inaccuracies to be material because the defence could have challenged his evidence, and because it was "not uncommon for workers on farms to wear boots."

The Commission said the jury had been in a position to compare the prints on the parcel shelf with acetate sheets bearing Sleightholme's fingerprints. And it pointed out that there was a gap between the handprints and the yellow line drawn outside.

It concluded there was a gap in the fence at the time of the murder and part of the judge's summing up was inaccurate in this respect. However, there was no evidence that a vehicle passed through the gateway on the evening of the murder.

A spokesman for the Criminal Cases Review Commission said: "It is actually a criminal offence for us to give information to anyone other than the people that we are given permission to disclose it to, but the applicant will have a very full explanation of why decisions have been made."

The campaigners are now planning a judicial review into the Commission's decision.

Ryedale MP John Greenway said today that, after being informed of the issues raised by the campaigners, he had felt it right for the matters to be re-considered by the Commission.

"It is not for us to second guess the Commission's reasoning.

"I feel sure that everyone in the local community will want to feel comfortable and confident that justice has properly discharged."