Friends of a former Isle of Man resident who was killed by her estranged husband are campaigning for reform of the court system.

Ascot guesthouse owner Joanna Brown was last year beaten to death with a claw hammer and buried close to Windsor Great Park.

Her husband, British Airways pilot Robert Brown, pleaded guilty to her manslaughter but was acquitted of murder.

He received a 26-year sentence, which he failed to have reduced on appeal last week.

Mrs Brown's mother Diana Parkes and brother James Simpson have described Brown's acquittal on the murder charge as 'a gross miscarriage of justice'.

Mrs Parkes told Manx Radio they believed jurors failed to understand evidence from expert witnesses about Brown's mental state at the time of the killing, which led to them delivering the wrong verdict on the murder charge.

The say victims' families should be able to appeal against acquittals, in cases where expert evidence has clearly not been properly understood by a jury.