Court rejects Newlove killer appeal
A youth serving life for the alcohol-fuelled murder of father-of-three Garry Newlove who was kicked to death after confronting vandals outside his his home has lost an appeal against conviction.
Gang ringleader Adam Swellings, now 20, was present in the dock at the Court of Appeal in London for the proceedings.
Mr Newlove's widow Helen sat in the public gallery of the courtroom to hear Lord Justice Moore-Bick and two other senior judges reject Swellings's case that his murder conviction was unsafe.
Swellings, from Crewe, Cheshire, is serving a minimum term of 17 years, which is the least he must spend behind bars before he is eligible to apply for parole.
The judges are now hearing his appeal against that sentence.
They are also dealing with a sentence appeal by co-accused Stephen Sorton, now 18, of Warrington, who is seeking a reduction in his minimum term of 15 years.
Sorton was not present for the hearing.
Mr Newlove, a 47-year-old salesman who had overcome stomach cancer, was murdered in August last year.
