A family have vowed to fight on after a killer launched an appeal against his conviction for murdering girlfriend Mary Malkin.

Dean Williams' appeal has sparked a campaign and fierce opposition from Mary's family.

Her devoted sister Franky Dillon is calling for public support for their campaign Justice For Mary - for the sake of all domestic abuse victims.

Williams, now 50, of Millmead Road, Margate, was sentenced to life in 2005 after strangling his disabled girlfriend Mary, 40, in Margate’s Invicta House in January that year.

He had denied killing her.

His challenge to his conviction has just been launched at the Court of Apppeal.

Ms Dillon is urging people to voice their opposition on the Facebook page Justice For Mary and by contacting the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).

Williams' appeal is based on evidence not available at the time of the trial, suggesting he was suffering severe alcohol problems and brain damage, which may have seriously lowered his responsibility for his actions in 2005.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) appeal suggests the trial’s result could have been different if that evidence had been available then.

Convictions for manslaughter, with diminished responsibility, do not necessarily result in life sentences. If Williams' appeal is successful, he could potentially be freed.

Ms Dillon, who lives in Cork in Ireland, said Williams' challenge had made her “overwhelmingly angry”. The reasons were “absolutely ridiculous”.

She said: “I assumed when someone was sentenced to a minimum sentence, especially for such a horrific crime, that would have meant that was the minimum time they would serve, not the minimum until they appeal and try and get out of it.

“That the appeal is based on that he was drunk, and may or may not have meant to kill her, is absurd. If you physically harm someone by strangling them you risk hurting them to the point of fatality.

“This was not a one-off occasion. It had happened many times, so was clearly not an ‘accident’ of any kind.

"Being drunk is no sort of excuse for that, this man chose to consume alcohol, chose to carry on until the point of apparent memory loss and also chose to physically assault his girlfriend.

"When making these choices you cannot be sure of the consequences but must pay the price for what the consequences are.

“This man intended on harming Mary and has ended up taking a mother away from her two young children. He is clearly a threat to the public if he thinks this kind of violence is acceptable and something which can be blamed on being drunk.

"He does not deserve to be out on the streets where people should be able to feel safe and should absolutely be made to carry out the full sentence of 21 years.

“Everybody wants him kept behind bars. No-one will be safe if he is allowed out.”

She had high praise for the police involved in the case including Detective Chief Inspector Lee Russell. Officers were in constant contact.

A date has yet to be set for the appeal hearing.

The Dillon family of six siblings had grown up in Thanet. In 2004, their youngest brother Stephen, 26, was killed in a fire following a gas leak at Trinity Square, Margate.

Grief had led to their brother Daniel committing suicide, leaving remaining siblings Franky, John and Kathleen, who has also been the victim of an abusive relationship.

Ms Dillon said Kathleen was “petrified” by the implications of Williams appeal.

She said the situation was again putting Mary’s children, Callum, now 24, and Cameron, now 19, “through absolute hell”.

“To see all this going on is just heart-breaking. There is only so much you can shield them from, we thought we had some kind of closure, and now this,” she said.

“We will fight this for all the people in relationships involving domestic violence and want people to leave their comment’s on Mary’s Facebook page and to email the Commissioner for Justice at: complaints@ccrc.gov.uk