A B.C. judge ruled Thursday that Kelly Ellard, the woman convicted of murdering Reena Virk near Victoria in 1997, will get legal aid to pay for her latest appeal.

Ellard was found guilty of second-degree murder last year — during her third trial.

Kelly Ellard was convicted in 2005 of the swarming death of 14-year-old Reena Virk near Victoria.
(CBC file)

She was sentenced to life in prison. Because she was just 15 when Virk was murdered, she was ordered to serve seven years before being eligible for parole.

Her lawyer, Peter Wilson, filed an appeal last summer seeking an acquittal or a new trial.

Legal Services of B.C. had refused to pay for the appeal, after concluding that Ellard didn't have good enough reasons to appeal and likely wouldn't win.

But Wilson disagreed and went to the B.C. Court of Appeal, saying his client deserves public funding.

He argued the judge in her last trial erred in allowing one witness to be re-examined, and that the judge failed to warn the jury there was a possibility of witness collusion in the case.

He also said the evidence didn't support the verdict strongly enough.

Mr. Justice Ian Donald of the B.C. Court of Appeal agreed with Wilson's arguments.

He also said the amount of public attention given to the case as well as Ellard's age at the time of the incident means it is paramount that justice is served "beyond a reasonable doubt," and that the appeal should proceed.
 
A date for Ellard's appeal has not been set.