Stars join fight to save gran on death row

FILM stars Colin Firth and Julie Christie have backed a campaign to save the life of a British grandmother on death row in the United States.

They joined public figures and celebrities – including authors Philip Pullman, Zadie Smith and Martina Cole – calling for public support for Linda Carty, 51.

The move came two days after Carty lodged a last-ditch appeal with the US Supreme Court. She was convicted in 2002 over the abduction and murder of a woman after a trial that campaigners say was "catastrophically flawed".

A video plea on her behalf will be submitted to the court, alongside the appeal from her legal team and a document from the British government outlining its concerns over her sentence.

If the appeal fails, she could be executed within months. Backing the battle to save her, the campaigners said: "Now is the time to get very worried about Linda, and to support the government's Supreme Court appeal on her behalf.

"Linda would not be on death row if she had been able to afford a decent defence lawyer.

"The government has told the Supreme Court that Texas's failure to notify it of her arrest prevented Linda from receiving desperately needed legal assistance from the British consulate that would probably have saved her life."