FAMILY and friends of a 47-year-old Kent mother are celebrating after her jail sentence for stabbing her boyfriend to death was almost halved.

Lyn O'Regan, a mother of two, from Coats Avenue, Sheerness, broke down in tears following the ruling at London's Criminal Appeal Court, knowing she should be free to return to Sheppey next April.

O'Regan was convicted of manslaughter for killing Charlie Murphy, 38, during an alcohol-fuelled row in July 2002. She told the judge at Maidstone Crown Court she was acting in self-defence because she thought Mr Murphy was going to kill her.

The three appeal court judges on Tuesday said her original six-year jail term was 'manifestly excessive' given the nature of the provocation and the mitigating factors. They reduced her term to three-and-a-half years.

Her sister, Helen Chapman, said: "It's absolutely fantastic. Lyn is ecstatic"

FULL STORY IN THIS WEEK'S SHEERNESS TIMES GUARDIAN