Kim Galbraith alleged that she was abused

She was convicted by a jury of murdering her policeman husband Ian in their home in Furnace, Argyll, in 1999.

Her lawyers argued that she should have been found guilty of the lesser charge of culpable homicide because of the abuse she suffered at his hands.

They claimed that the ruling that mental illness is required before an accused can be held not fully responsible for their actions is contrary to the interests of justice.

The Crown accepted that the direction given to the jury at the original trial was unsound and told the court it was no longer opposing a change in the law.

However, solicitor general Neil Davidson QC also told the court that Mrs Galbraith was a liar.

Pulled the trigger

He pointed out that she first told police the shooting was the work of intruders, who had also raped her in the cottage.

She later abandoned the cover-up and admitted pulling the trigger.

When Galbraith stood trial two years ago, she claimed that years of sexual abuse by her bullying husband had driven her to shoot him.

Mr Davidson told the appeal court that it was not impossible for the jury to have considered that further lies were told in an attempt to avoid some of the guilt.

I cannot avoid the conclusion that justice was probably not done in this case

Trial judge Lord Osborne

"Certainly the evidence of Galbraith in relation to how she was treated by the deceased was not un-contradicted," he said.

He argued that a new jury should consider the whole evidence on events leading up to the killing.

Mrs Galbraith's defence team wanted Lord Rodger - sitting with Lords Penrose, Bonomy, Nimmo Smith and Lady Cosgrove - to use their powers to change the verdict.

They will now issue a written report on how the law of diminished responsibility should be applied in future.

However, they also agreed to order a re-trial in the case.

Mrs Galbraith's lawyer Margaret Scott had pointed out that Lord Osborne thought a culpable homicide verdict should have been the outcome of the trial.

Credible evidence

She quoted from the trial judge's report to the appeal court, which said: "I feel bound to say that I was both surprised and dismayed that the jury decided to return a verdict of murder, by a majority.

"I had no difficulty in regarding the appellant's (Mrs Galbraith's) evidence of the circumstances of her marriage and the experiences which she described as credible."

And he added: "I cannot avoid the conclusion that justice was probably not done in this case."

Lord Rodger said they no longer needed to consider Galbraith's other ground of appeal - that the filming of her previous defence lawyer, Donald Findlay QC, singing "sectarian songs" at a private party had turned the jury against her.

No date has been set for the judges' report or the re-trial.