Joanna Brown's family and friends call for court reform

Mrs Brown ran a guesthouse in Ascot

Friends of a Berkshire woman who was killed by her estranged husband are campaigning for reform of the court system.

Ascot guesthouse owner Joanna Brown was battered to death with a claw hammer and buried close to Windsor Great Park.

Her husband, BA pilot Robert Brown, pleaded guilty to her manslaughter but was cleared of murder by a jury.

He received a 26-year sentence, which he failed to have reduced on appeal on Thursday.

Mrs Brown's mother Diana Parkes and brother James Simpson have described Brown's acquittal on the murder charge as "a gross miscarriage of justice".

Ascot woman Hetti Nanton, who describes Joanna Brown as her "best friend" has begun a campaign called Justice for Jo, and hopes to put pressure on the government to reform the court system.

She believes the jury in Mrs Brown's case were unable to understand the expert testimony by psychologists.

Robert Brown was a champion trail runner and said to be a fierce competitor

It was claimed in court that Robert Brown was suffering from "adjustment disorder" brought on by stress over his divorce from Mrs Brown.

While Robert Brown was able to appeal against his manslaughter sentence, Mrs Brown's family and friends have no way of appealing against his acquittal for murder, unless new evidence comes to light.

Belinda Skudder, another close friend of Mrs Brown said she was starting an e-petition for the law to be changed.

She believes prosecutors should be able to appeal against acquittals where it is clear that expert evidence has not been properly interpreted by the jury.

"None of this can bring Jo back and I do not think one can ever have "closure" on something so awful, but we would feel a lot better if we felt justice had been achieved in the first place," she said.

"I personally feel that he is a vicious psychopath who shows no remorse."

Mrs Nanton said it was "horrific" that there was "nothing" Mrs Brown's family and friends could do about the jury's verdict.

She said she believed the jury had been swayed by Mr Brown's charm and his high status job as a BA pilot.

Belinda Skudder (left) said her close friend was a "very warm, kind and extremely thoughtful person"

She said police in court were "in tears" on hearing Mr Brown had been cleared of the murder charge.

Mrs Nanton said she had moved house in order to be nearer friends due to the stress of the killing and subsequent trial.

She said: "Jo was my best friend. We met when both of our youngest children were in nursery together.

"After she tried to divorce Robert she was constantly being subjected to a lot of abuse.

"He threatened her with a knife, he used to drive slowly past her house. It was intimidation on a scale you can't comprehend."

Mrs Nanton said Mrs Brown had been killed just one week before her divorce hearing.

"I spoke to her one hour before she died," she said.

"When I heard what had happened to her, I just screamed. We were so nearly there. He has destroyed so many lives."