AN East Lancashire man found guilty of killing his wife in France is bidding to be released from prison as he awaits a third murder trial.

Robert Lund, 57, of Darwen, was convicted of murdering his second wife Evelyn, 52, from Rawtenstall, whose body was found in a French lake in 2001 in a second trial in 2009.

He had first been found guilty in 2007 and jailed for 12 years before appealing.

He is now set to go through a third trial in late 2011, according to reports in the French media.

Lund was able to file for a re-trial because of a legal mix-up at the 2009 court case meant that he was not given the chance to make a final statement to the courtroom.

A court in Toulouse will decide on Thursday about Lund’s bid for release on parole.