A wife who bludgeoned her husband to death with a hammer began an appeal against her conviction yesterday, claiming the coercive control law change meant she was a "hostage" and not a murderer.

Georgina ‘Sally’ Challen, 65, is arguing the Court of Appeal should downgrade her conviction to manslaughter in light of the abuse husband Richard subjected her to over their 31-year marriage.

In a landmark case, her lawyers argue that had the defence of coercive control - which passed into law in 2015 - been available at the time of her trial in June 2011, she would not have been found guilty of murder

Over 50 people turned out to support Mrs Challen yesterday in London, forcing proceedings to be moved to a larger courtroom in the afternoon.

In August 2010, Mrs Challen, an office manager for the police federation, cooked Mr Challen, 61, a final meal at their home in Claygate, Surrey, before striking him over the head with a hammer 20 times.

Her trial at Guildford Crown Court heard that she attacked the father of her two children after discovering he had been speaking to a woman on a dating service. She was painted as a "jealous spouse" and sentenced to 22 years in prison, later downgraded to 18 on appeal.