Hoogstraten wins appeal

Property tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten today won the right to a retrial on the manslaughter charge which landed him with a ten-year prison sentence.

The Court of Appeal in London quashed Hoogstraten's conviction of involvement in the killing of a business rival and ordered him to be brought to court on a fresh indictment within two months in preparation for a retrial.

Three judges held that 58-year-old Hoogstraten's conviction at the Old Bailey a year ago was unsafe.

The judges directed that no details of their judgment can be reported apart from the result of today's hearing.