The daughter of a man convicted of his mother-in-law's murder says she will be looking to appeal the verdict.

Simon Childs was today found guilty by a jury of the murder of Jackie Allen, 65, after he torched the family home in West Malling.

However, his daughter Charmaine, who ran out of court in tears as the verdict was delivered, protested his innocence after the trial ended and said the family would explore their ability to appeal.

"My dad is an innocent man, and he has been set up," she said.

"He would never murder anybody, he has not done this fire, he has not done anything.

"All the family are going to suffer now because my dad is in jail. This is all haunting us.

"We do not believe they have taken the evidence into consideration, they have clearly judged him from his first statement at the police station and it's totally wrong.

"I can't explain how I feel but I know my dad has not done it.

"The jury found him guilty because they were judging him by his character.

"They are random people off the streets, they don't know my dad. They had nothing on my dad to prove it but word of mouth. That's very wrong to put down a man for that.

"What are the chances of a successful appeal? I don't know, but we can always try - the only option is to go forward with the appeal and see what happens then."

Childs will now receive a life sentence on Friday and the judge Mrs Justice Farbey will rule on a minimum term he will have to serve.

Read more: All the latest news from Malling

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.