Home Secretary Jack Straw is to be asked to intervene in the case of Zoora Shah, the Bradford mother-of-three serving a life sentence for murder.

Mrs Shah is serving her sentence in Holloway Prison after poisoning Mohammed Azam, a married man with whom she was having an affair, in 1992.

But campaigners fighting for her freedom say she was suffering from diminished responsibility and was driven to kill after years of abuse.

They say Mrs Shah, formerly of Legrams Lane, was unable to speak about the abuse she suffered at her original trial because the issue is taboo in the Asian community and she felt too ashamed to reveal it.

The Appeal Court threw out these claims in April but campaigners are not giving up and are preparing an appeal to Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, asking him to reduce her sentence.

They are also appealing to the European Court of Human Rights on the basis that the Appeal judges returned a racially biased judgement.

And they intend to collect 20,000 signatures for a petition which will be launched at the Mela, Europe's biggest Asian event, on July 4 and 5.

Mrs Shah's three children still live in Bradford. They are taking a leading part in the campaign to free her, alongside women's groups including the Keighley Domestic Violence Forum, the Southall Black Sisters and Justice for Women which helped battered-wife Sara Thornton win her long legal battle and eventual release from prison.

Shamshad Hussain, of the Keighley Domestic Violence Forum, explained: "There are various strands in the Court of Appeal judgement that the legal team are looking to challenge.

"We are also planning to dig out new evidence that would enable us to take the case back to the Court of Appeal."

She continued: "We will also be asking Jack Straw to consider her case and reduce her tariff. We have until the end of October to present our case to him and he will make a decision by the end of November.

"The appeal decision was a blow to us all, but Zoora took it quite well and she has every faith in her legal team.''

Campaigners hope to have a stall at the Bradford Mela when supporters of Zoora can sign a petition and catch up on the latest developments in her campaign.

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