by Hayley Robinson

hrobinson@thekmgroup.co.uk

A woman convicted of murdering her violent boyfriend has been freed from prison by appeal court judges.

Former Westlands School pupil Kirsty Scamp was just 20 when she was sentenced to at least 12 years behind bars for stabbing to death Jason Bull at their Sheerness flat.

Maidstone Crown Court heard in March, 2007 how Scamp killed Mr Bull 11 months before in a jealous rage after she caught him on the telephone to another woman.

The knife entered his left lung and he died within minutes.

The woman Mr Bull was telephoning told the court they were just friends.

Scamp, now 24, launched an appeal against her murder conviction arguing it should have been manslaughter.

And on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal agreed to downgrade her conviction and reduce her life imprisonment sentence to six years.

As she has already served half her sentence at London's Holloway Prison she was due to be freed on licence today.

Mum Patsy Barker said: "We're elated with the outcome; it's been a long time coming.

"I think Kirsty was shocked. We both broke down in tears - it's only natural.

"The only annoying thing was she was a free woman on Wednesday but she had to go back to prison because there was paper work to sort out so we couldn't pick her up until the following day."

Justice for Women - a feminist group which campaigns for women who have fought back against abusive partners - took on Scamp's case.

A spokesman said: "They overturned the murder conviction on the grounds the judge's summing up was wrong [in the original case].

"She was provoked by his violence. That's what wasn't summed up properly for the jury."

Scamp's solicitor Harriet Wistrich , from Birnberg Peirce and Partners, in London, said: "We are delighted with the outcome - justice has been done.

"The court recognised that the judge's summing up may have misled the jury. It was the right result. She should never have been convicted of murder in the first place as it was not a pre-meditated act."