SOLICITOR Sally Clark today said she did not feel victorious, only relief that her "nightmare" was finally over.

Clark, 38, who was jailed in 1999 for murdering her two sons, was speaking after dramatically winning her appeal against conviction.

Flanked by her husband on the steps of the High Court in London, she said: "Today is not a victory. We are not victorious.

"There are no winners here. We have all lost out. We simply feel relief that our nightmare is finally at an end."

Mrs Clark thanked the members of the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal who in May 2001 "had the courage and sufficient faith in me" to allow her to remain on the roll.

Their decision had offered her "the first glimmer of hope for many months".

She also thanked her friends for their "unwavering and unconditional support".

She paid special tribute to her father.

"For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted him to be proud of me and have tried to live my life, respectful of those in authority and in accordance with the morals and values taught to me by my parents as a child.

"Despite my innocence there have been times throughout all of this when I have felt that I have let him down in some way.

"Yet he has stood by me, and not only that, worked tirelessly alongside my legal team to secure my release.

"Not what he had planned for his retirement. I only hope that he is proud of me today. I am certainly proud of him."

Her composure wobbled when she mentioned her husband, who stood beside her with a comforting hand placed on her shoulder.

"Finally, my husband, Steve, who together with our little boy, is my life.

"He has stood by me and supported me throughout this whole nightmare, not through blind love or unthinking loyalty, but because he knows me better than anyone else and knows how much I loved our babies.

Her voice cracked with emotion as she continued.

"He has been my rock and I love him now more than ever.

"Being separated from him for so long has been a living hell. Being deprived of more than three years of being a mum to our little boy has been even worse.

"And yet somehow, despite our separation and against all the odds, we have managed to remain a family and stay close.

"My little boy knows that he has a mummy and daddy who love him very much and love each other very much and that's what counts.

"May we now be allowed the privacy to rebuild our lives, to move forward and to learn to be a proper family again." Meanwhile, the husband of a mother jailed for life for murdering her two infant sons said today he hoped Mrs Clark's successful appeal would lead to a review of his wife's case.

Like Mrs Clark, Angela Cannings has maintained her innocence and insisted her children died from cot death.

Terry Cannings has been fighting to clear his wife's name since she was convicted at Winchester Crown Court in April last year.

He said he felt very pleased for Mrs Clark and her family and was hopeful that it would have an impact on his wife's case.

"Over the last three months I've put the two (cases) very much together and I do now hope that this will help Angela," Mr Cannings told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"Everything about Angela during her trial was on, basically, a hiding to nothing.

"In other words, when a jury is faced with that prospect, the guilt is almost implanted before it starts."

John Batt, Mrs Clark's solicitor, said there were similarities between the two cases, including no previous history of abuse, and health professionals reporting that both women were caring mothers.