Six people from Breda have been convicted for a second time of murdering the mother of a Chinese restaurant owner in 1993, despite the admission of new evidence.

The high court in 2012 ordered the case be heard again after new facts emerged about the murder of Tim Mui Cheug, who worked in her son’s Chinese restaurant Peacock in Breda.

The new evidence included an eyewitness who was waiting at a bus stop opposite the restaurant and who heard nothing and traces of blood at the scene which did not come from the victim or the six suspects.

At the original trial, three men and three women were found guilty of involvement in the murder. The men were jailed for 10 years, the women for two. All have since served their sentences.

The men have always denied any involvement. The women confessed but later retracted their statements, saying they had been put under pressure during the investigation. All six were arrested following a police tip-off.

The court in The Hague said it did not consider the women’s confessions had been made under undue pressure and that they are trustworthy enough to be included as evidence.

The group’s lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops said he was ‘astonished’ the court had decided to uphold the earlier sentences and ignore the new evidence.

He has launched an appeal against the verdict.