The cases of two of the three men jailed last November for the murder of the prostitute Lynette White have been referred to the Court of Appeal.

Yusef Abdullahi, aged 29, Tony Parris, aged 33, and Steve Miller, aged 24, known as the Cardiff Three , were convicted of murdering Ms White at a flat in Cardiff, on February 14, 1988. She had been stabbed and slashed many times.

A white man with blood-stains on him was reported near the scene early in the morning. Nine months later, eight people, seven of them black, were arrested. One of them, Steve Miller, from Brixton, south London, made a confession during his 19th interview with police, in which he implicated acquaintances. Five men were charged. Of these, two cousins, Ronald and John Actie, were acquitted after the trial in Swansea last year.

Now the cases of Mr Abdullahi and Mr Parris have been referred to the Court of Appeal. The application of Mr Miller, who was Ms White's pimp, has been turned down.

The case against the men rested on Mr Miller's confession, which he had retracted, evidence of a prison informer, Ian Massey, and that of two prostitutes, Leanne Vilday and Angela Psalia.

On June 15, 1988, before any arrests, Ms Vilday was interviewed under hypnosis by Dr Una Maguire, a psychologist and consultant to the police. The Guardian has seen this interview. Ms Vilday tells how she came to discover Ms White's death. 'I looked through the letter-box to call her.' At no stage does she describe being involved in the murder.

Later, however, Dr Maguire stated that 'given the tragic circumstances,' Ms Vilday could have 'blocked out' all memory of the murder. Ms Vilday has since said she was not genuinely under hypnosis.

Members of Mr Abdullahi's family say that alibi witness statements, not available to the defence at the trial, will form part of the appeal.