Weston man loses murder appeal

A man convicted of murdering a Weston man in a frenzied assault has had an appeal against his conviction and sentence thrown out.

David Colin Shale, now aged 29, and his friend Andrew Shortt, now 30, were jailed for life at Bristol Crown Court for the murder of 46-year-old Robert Huggett at his Weston-super-Mare flat in September 1999. The trio earlier met in Manhattan's, a gay club in the town.

Both denied the murder at the time but more recently Shortt claimed it was he alone who inflicted the injuries.

Earlier this year, he gave evidence in his friend's favour before three senior judges at the Court of Appeal, during which he told of his "shame" at having lied at the trial, held in 2001, to "save his bacon".

On Monday, the three judges announced they had rejected Shortt's account and dismissed Shale's appeal.

Members of Mr Huggett's family were in court to hear the judgment but declined to comment afterwards.

The prosecution case at the trial was that the pair had met Mr Huggett at Manhattan's, and he had been murdered with a savage flurry of punches during a robbery.

Shale was said to have either participated in the attack or acted as support or encouragement of the beating that led to his death.

But, at February's hearing, Shortt told the judges Shale, whom he had known since schooldays, stood by "panic-stricken" as he himself inflicted blows on Mr Huggett.

Giving evidence, Shale, of Frankley, Birmingham, said he had lied at the trial due to a misplaced loyalty.

Shale was ordered to serve a minimum of 14 years in jail, which means he will not be eligible to apply for parole until 2013 and even then must convince the authorities he is no longer a risk to the public.