The mum of tragic tot Liam Fee has been given permission to appeal against her murder conviction.
Rachel Fee,31, was told on Friday that her lawyers can argue that the judge in her trial from earlier this year made mistakes when addressing jurors about the law.
Judge Lord Burns jailed Fee for 23 and a half years for murdering her two-year-old son at the High Court in Edinburgh in July 2016.
Her civil partner Nyomi,24, was jailed for 24 years for her role in taking Liam’s life.
The pair spent two years torturing the tot before finally killing him at their Fife home in March 2014.
However, after a short hearing at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh on Friday, a panel of judges gave permission for Fee’s legal team to appeal against her conviction.
Judges Lady Paton, Lord Bracadale and Lord Turnbull agreed with submissions made by defence counsel Gavin Anderson.
Mr Anderson argued that evidence is available to suggest that Lord Burns misdirected jurors over the legal requirements needed to secure a murder conviction against Fee.
The advocate also argued that the judge didn’t properly explain to the jury about the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
Jurors considering their verdict against Fee may have felt that the evidence presented to them meant that it was more appropriate to return a guilty verdict to culpable homicide than murder.
Lady Paton said: “We will allow the appeal to proceed.”
Fee’s appeal hearing will be heard sometime in the near future.
