The former husband of a woman brutally murdered in London eight years ago, has welcomed plans to re-investigate the case - this time on television.

Michael Shackleton, speaking at his cottage home in Stanbury, near Keighley, said today: "If it helps find the killer, I'll take part."

Mr Shackleton said he was prepared to feature on a programme being produced by London Weekend Television which aims to delve into the unsolved murder of his former wife, 34-year-old Cheryl.

Cheryl, a designer, whose son Sean was eight at the time of her death in 1991, had been separated from her husband for more than a year when her badly-beaten body was found in New Cross, South London.

Her liver had been ruptured and there was evidence her killer - thought to be an extremely powerful man - had tried to strangle her.

Police wound down the case after a coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing in July 1991. They were still in the dark as to the motive and identity of her killer.

Mr Shackleton said: "Cheryl's death had an horrific impact on me and my son. I wondered what I should have done to make a difference.

"Thankfully, my son seems to have coped very well. He was only eight at the time and since we came to live here, he has been fine."

He believed Cheryl, who had mental health problems, was also a victim of the care in the community policy.

"She was one of those people who slipped through the net. It was very tragic. She shouldn't have been allowed to cope on her own," he said.

The couple divorced more than a year before her death due to her increasingly disturbed mental state.

London Weekend Television's Mark Cowley said it was preparing a documentary looking into unsolved murder cases, some of which would look at the point of view of the families who had lost a loved one.

"Hopefully, one of the things the programme will do is to remind the public that these cases are not solved and that police will still want any help that they might provide," he said.

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