MURDERER Glyn Razzell has formally lodged an appeal against his life sentence for killing his estranged wife Linda.

Razzell hopes to convince the Court of Appeal that directions made by trial judge Justice Christopher Pitchers were prejudicial to his case.

The 44-year-old, formerly of Meadow Road and an investments manager with Swindon-based Zurich Financial Services, will claim Mr Justice Pitchers dismissed key defence witnesses who believed they saw the missing mother of four alive after she was supposed to have disappeared on March 19, 2002.

In December, a jury at Bristol Crown Court took less than seven hours to unanimously convict Razzell of murder.

The jury believed prosecution barrister, Michael Parroy QC, who said Razzell placed Linda, 41, a part-time learning support assistant at Swindon College, either dead or dying in the boot of a car he borrowed from a friend on March 19, 2002 and dumped her.

Her body has never been found.

But defence barrister Stewart Jones QC called several witnesses who claimed they saw Linda in her native Carmarthenshire and Weston-super-Mare after March 19.

Sentencing him to life imprisonment, the judge told Razzell he was a "wicked man" motivated by money who had deprived four children of their mother.

Razzell's defence solicitor, Victoria Road-based Rob Ross, said: "The grounds we are appealing on are rulings the judge made at the beginning of the trial during a closed hearing and the way he dealt with the sightings evidence.

"Glyn Razzell hopes Linda will turn up. He can't assist with where her body is because he didn't kill her."

The Court of Appeal judge will now trawl through papers and evidence before deciding whether to give Razzell leave to appeal, although a decision is unlikely before the summer.

The exact length of Razzell's sentence is still unclear. He is currently at Horfield Prison in Bristol. Lifers are released after serving an average of between 13 and 14 years, but remain on licence meaning they can be recalled to prison at any time.

Razzell, who has always protested his innocence, would receive a significant sentence reduction if he were to reveal where Linda's body was, this being an admission of guilt.