A RELENTLESS campaign by Prestwich-born journalist Don Hale to overturn a controversial murder conviction is being made into a major TV drama.

And Stephen Tompkinson, best known for his roles in Drop the Dead Donkey and Ballykissangel, will play Mr Hale in the BBC production, entitled In Denial of Murder.

The two-part Hat Trick Productions drama, based on the high profile case of Stephen Downing and the Bakewell cemetery murder, has been written by Neil McKay and stars Tompkinson and Caroline Katz.

It explores the story of the murder of Wendy Sewell (played by Caroline Katz) in a cemetery in Bakewell, a picturesque town in the heart of the Derbyshire Peak District in 1973, and the controversy surrounding the conviction of Stephen Downing (Jason Watkins).

It was claimed that Downing, then a 17-year-old council worker, attacked Wendy Sewell and savagely beat and sexually assaulted her. Downing pleaded not guilty but was found guilty and given a life sentence in 1974.

His refusal to admit his crime meant he was classified as IDOM (In Denial Of Murder) and ineligible for parole.

Downing served 27 years for Sewell's murder until he was released from prison on appeal in 2001 following a relentless campaign led by local journalist and former Bury Messenger editor Don Hale.

The case was recognised as one of Britain's most significant miscarriages of justice and Mr Hale, then editor of the Matlock Mercury, was showered with awards and accolades.

In 2002 the Court of Appeal quashed Downing's conviction, finding it to be unsafe.

Earlier this year, however, following the subsequent reinvestigation into Sewell's murder, Derbyshire Police announced that he remained the only suspect in the case.

Executive producer Mark Redhead, head of drama at Hat Trick, said: "Don Hale's determination to prove Downing's innocence captured the imagination of press and public alike.

"Based on extensive research, the drama tells the moving and tragic story behind the headlines, combining the story of Hale's campaign with an account of the life of the murder victim Wendy Sewell."