A businessman found guilty of murdering his wife and young daughter in New Zealand has won an appeal against his conviction in a British court.
The five judges said new evidence in Mark Lundy's case had emerged which cast doubt on the methods prosecutors used to establish the times of death.
In the light of this they said his conviction could not be considered safe and another trial should be held. The ruling was unanimous.
The jury in at the original trial 11 years ago found Lundy had attacked his wife Christine, 38, and seven-year-old daughter Amber with a tomahawk-like weapon.
It was said to have happened at the family's home in Palmerston North.
New Zealander Lundy, 54, who denies the murders in August 2000, had asked the judicial committee of the Privy Council - which sits in London - to analyse his case.
His lawyer, David Hislop QC, told the hearing last June that his argument would focus on "staining" found on Lundy's shirt.
Prosecutors in the original trial said it had come from Mrs Lundy's brain tissue, and because it had been deposited "wet" meant that he must have been present during the killings.
But Mr Hislop said that argument was "fundamentally flawed", and he accused police of failing to provide Lundy's defence lawyers with any evidence relating to the deposit.
As a result he claimed the jury's verdicts were unreasonable.
The judges - four from the UK and one from New Zealand - heard Lundy's appeal at the Supreme Court building in central London. They delivered their ruling on Monday.
Summing up the ruling, a judicial committee spokesman said the panel had to consider "whether Mr Lundy's conviction was safe, given the evidence emerging after trial.
"Since the trial, a 'welter of evidence' from reputable consultants has cast doubt on the methods the Crown had relied on to establish the time of death based on the contents of the victims' stomachs."
The judicial committee of the Privy Council was the highest court of appeal for the British Empire and can hear appeals from cases originating in Commonwealth - or former Commonwealth - countries.
Legal experts said the committee was effectively sitting as a New Zealand Supreme Court. The country now has a Supreme Court but did not have one when Lundy was convicted.
Lundy will remain in custody until the New Zealand High Court decides whether to grant him bail.
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