The husband of a woman who was murdered 27 years ago has hit back at claims she was a "tart" although he revealed that she had had a child adopted after an affair with a married man in the late 1960s.

David Sewell, 62, said he remained convinced Stephen Downing, whose case is subject to an impending appeal, was rightly convicted of the murder of his wife Wendy, in 1973 and said he was relieved that Downing was refused bail last week.

Mr Sewell, of Middleton-by-Youlgreave, Derbyshire, told Press Association that he had felt hurt by suggestions that Wendy had been a "tart" and may have been blackmailing other men at the time of her murder.

However he revealed that they had split up for a year in 1967 during their marriage, when Wendy had a child by another man.

The father of the child was married and a member of a respected family in Bakewell, Derbyshire. The baby was adopted and went to live with new parents in Canada.

"There has been a lot of things said about Wendy, most of which are untrue. It has been reported that she was a prostitute, that simply wasn't the case," said Mr Sewell, who is now remarried and works as a classic car consultant.

It has been claimed by some of Downing's supporters that Wendy had gone to the cemetery where she murdered either for a sexual liaison or to meet a man she was blackmailing.

Mr Sewell dismissed the claims saying she had gone there to choose a gravestone for her father's grave.

And he said that on the night she was killed, he was visited by a policeman who said they had been keeping an eye on Downing because they thought he had been involved in a couple of indecent assaults on young girls.