A woman whose elderly husband was convicted of trying to kill her was refused permission to take the stand in a bid to clear his name.

Three top Appeal Court judges decided not to allow wheelchair-bound Valerie Tully the chance to speak up in defence of her 72-year-old husband Derek.

New evidence from Mrs Tully was due to be the central plank in her husband's appeal case.

But Lord Justice Kay, who was sitting with Mr Justice Mackay and The Recorder of Chester, refused to hear her.

Instead he promised to give a verdict and judgement on the appeal next week.

At Lewes Crown Court on May 14, 1999, Tully was convicted of attempting to murder his wife of nearly 50 years at the bungalow they shared in Cissbury Gardens, Findon Valley, Worthing. He was jailed for six years.

Mrs Tully, aged 64 at the time, had been beaten round the head with an 18in wooden pole, but has always believed her husband's claims that an intruder was responsible.

At the original trial she didn't give evidence because she had no recollection of events.

But Richard Ainley, representing Tully, said she had recovered a "great deal" of her memory.

The court heard that what happened on the night in question came back to her in dreams and supported her husband's version of events.

The court heard how Mrs Tully was discovered unconscious and covered in blood by firemen on January 5, 1998.

She had been hit at least seven times and suffered a fractured skull. Her attacker had also set fire to the bungalow.

Tully's defence has always been that he had awoken to find a "shadowy figure" beating his wife and had gone to her aid.

But the prosecution say vital forensic evidence, including blood patterns taken from the bedroom, linked Tully with the crime.