Heartbroken mum demands justice for dead daughter

A mother is campaigning for appeal rights for murder victims’ families after nobody was brought to justice for her daughter’s death by swallowing acid.

Next year will mark 15 years since “phenomenal” young doctor Nina Longe died an agonising death her insides burned away by drain cleaner.

Her ex-boyfriend, Andrew Gardner, was accused of tricking the 28-year-old hospital medic into drinking the sulphuric acid.

Zimbabwean-born Gardner took more than 20 minutes to call an ambulance.

He then disappeared, blowing £800 on Nina’s credit cards before giving himself up to police.

But he was cleared of murdering his ex after a trial in 2000 leaving Nina’s mother Carole believing the family had been robbed of justice.

Now the 70-year-old widow is campaigning for a law change to allow families the right to appeal juries’ decisions to acquit murder defendants.

She said: “If murderers are convicted they have the right to appeal but when an accused is acquitted, the families are left with nothing.

“We want the families to have the same right to legal advice and appeal. We need to stop people getting away with murder.”

Carole founded the Justice After Acquittal (JAA) campaign group in 2006 with Ann Roberts, whose son Simon had been murdered three years earlier.

They are also calling for a national minimum standard of support for those whose lives have been torn apart by, only to see suspected killers walk free.

They have been campaigning alongside David Hines, of South Tyneside, who is chairman of the National Victims Association.

His 23-year-old daughter Marie was killed in an attack by her ex-boyfriend in 1993.

Mr Hines said: “Carole has fought and fought for justice. We know that a change in the law is well overdue. There needs to be balance in the way that families of murder victims are treated.”

Nina died after 23 minutes of excruciating pain at the home she had previously shared with Gardner before he dialled 999.

She had moved out days before her death following allegations he had attacked her.

It was alleged at his trial he “tricked” his former partner into drinking the drain cleaner, while his defence claimed she had killed herself.

He did not accompany her to hospital but fled with her credit card.

Gardner refused to give evidence under oath at his trial and was eventually cleared by the jury at Birmingham Crown Court.

Police who investigated the murder said they were “shocked” at the acquittal.

“My daughter’s death came out of the blue,” said Carole, of Leicester. “We had never been to a court before and the whole matter was totally traumatic.

“The evidence against him was unbelievable and then, just to be left with no hope of justice, was terrible.”

She added: “You cannot understand what it is like until it happens to you to have somebody you love murdered.

“You go to court, you believe the British justice system is the best in the world and then you see it fail you. This needs to change.”

In England the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 introduced a double jeopardy rule where suspects can be tried a second time if there is new and compelling evidence.

Similar rules have been in place in Scotland since 2011.

The reform led to the conviction of Gary Dobson and David Norris at the Old Bailey in January 2012 for the murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence.

However, previous attempts to allow the Crown Prosecution Service or families to appeal against acquittals have failed.

And last night, a Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Under the law, an individual is innocent until their guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt. The Government has no intention of changing that.”