The Criminal Cases Review Commission said this week they did not know when Geoffrey Foster would be given a decision.

"We don't like to say how long these things are going to take because we don't want to get people's hopes up," said a commission spokesman.

"There is a limited amount of information I can give you and I can't say what processes we are going through at the moment."

In March the Knutsford Guardian was told a decision could be made 'within months' by the commission which has investigated the case for the past two years.

Foster was jailed for life in 1986 for the murder of Knutsford pools collector Harold Cheetham, found strangled in his Southfields home.

Commission staff, who have been examining police and court documents, could refer the case back to the Court of Appeal.

"We have the job of investigating alleged miscarriages of justice," she said

"But we can only consider something if new evidence has come to light and circumstances have changed."

Foster, now 38, has always protested his innocence.

On Monday the commission could not confirm who had contacted them about an appeal.

But she added: "It is usually the convicted person who makes the application."

Only months after his conviction 14 years ago the courts rejected Foster's right to appeal.

A year later he was granted another day in court, but the legal bid failed becaused he was not legally represented in court.

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