Mexican John Alba is on Death Row for shooting his wife 11 years ago. Reporter EMMA COUTTS-WOOD talks to Brockley student Amy Greene who has been writing to him since she was 15...

For many British people, Death Row is something we hear about on the television and in American films like Dead Man Walking but we do not know much about it.

But for the last eight years, 23-year-old student Amy Greene, from Brockley, has been writing to John Alba who is on Death Row in Texas for shooting his wife, Wendy, on August 5 1991, after discovering she was having an affair.

His case is high-profile in America because he is Mexican and his 28-year-old wife was white and there have been allegations of racism during the trial.

The 47-year-old is now appealing for his sentence to be reduced to a life prison sentence.

Although John Alba receives very little support from his fellow Americans because of the nature of the case, he receives letters every week from Amy and her family and she has even been over to America to see him several times.

Amy, of Manor Avenue, started writing to John when she was 15 and doing a project on capital punishment at school.

Now a sociology student at Goldsmiths College in London, she is still writing to him and campaigning for his sentence to be reduced.

She said: "I got his name and address from a friend of my mum who was writing to him at the time.

"Now he has become a friend and we write twice a week. He is kind and sensitive and in his letters he talks a lot about his family. I have been over to America to see him a few times.

"He has pleaded guilty to shooting his wife and knows he deserves a punishment but to get his sentence reduced, he has to prove the murder was not pre-meditated and he is not a threat to society."

Amy claims there have been flaws in the case. "His lawyer says the prosecution was racist and even the jurors were against inter-racial marriages. I was really touched when I met his four children. I realised how important it was to campaign for his sentence to be reduced."

Amy has been in contact with his lawyer and has set up a fund for John.

She added: "I want to see justice for John. He doesn't deserve to be on death row."