Man jailed three times for same murder loses appeal

A man jailed three times for the same murder has failed in an appeal to get his sentence reduced.

Stuart Layden was first jailed for life in 2013, aged 30, for murdering Ian Church, 40, outside the Bricklayers Arms pub in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk in 2012.

Court of Appeal judges overturned his conviction in 2015 and ordered a retrial - and it was quashed for a second time in 2023. He spent 18 months on bail until Supreme Court judges restored his conviction in April this year with the minimum term of 13 years.

During the Court of Appeal hearing, Lord Justice Jeremy Baker said: "Since the restoration of his conviction for murder, this has put back the date of his eligibility for parole."

Layden, formerly of South Quay in Yarmouth, was among five people convicted of murdering Mr Church, and he was given the 13-year minimum jail term before he could be considered for release.

Last month, lawyers representing Layden told the appeal court his time spent on bail should be deducted from that part of the sentence.

They said that if this time was considered, he would have served almost the whole of his minimum term and be eligible for parole.

The judges rejected the appeal, saying Layden's time spent outside prison on bail was likely to have been "of considerable value" in persuading the Parole Board that he was no longer a danger to the public.

In a judgment on Friday, Justice Baker said: "The fact of the matter is that, following his conviction for murder, the applicant has been at liberty for a period of about 18 months, albeit subject to an electronic curfew, when he would otherwise have remained in custody.

"Given the effect of a sentence of imprisonment for life, there could be no assumption that the applicant would have been released on the earlier date or at all."

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.