A court is allowing a prisoner to appeal a conviction for murdering his ex-girlfriend – after his case was investigated by popular podcast series in the US.

Student Adnan Syed was 17-years-old when he was accused of strangling Hae Min Lee to death in Maryland.

He was convicted of her murder in 2000 and is currently serving a life sentence in Baltimore.

Syed has insisted that the lawyer who represented him during the murder trial ignored his requests to negotiate a plea deal.

He also claims a classmate who could have given him an alibi was not interviewed at the time.

Now Maryland's Court of Special Appeals has approved Syed’s push for a review of the case, after the radio programme questioned whether he was given a fair trial.

"It’s the first step in a pretty long process but we're extremely happy," his lawyer told the Baltimore Sun.