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Pc killer loses conviction appeal | Pc killer loses conviction appeal |
(9 minutes later) | |
A former US Marine jailed for life for the murder of a police officer in Leeds has been refused permission to appeal against his conviction. | A former US Marine jailed for life for the murder of a police officer in Leeds has been refused permission to appeal against his conviction. |
David Bieber was found guilty by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court in 2004 of the murder of Pc Ian Broadhurst on Boxing Day the previous year. | David Bieber was found guilty by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court in 2004 of the murder of Pc Ian Broadhurst on Boxing Day the previous year. |
Three judges at the Court of Appeal said the prosecution evidence against Bieber was "overwhelming". | |
But Bieber was given permission to appeal against his whole-life sentence. | |
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, sitting with two other judges, said the grounds of Bieber's conviction appeal were without merit. | |
His sentence appeal will be heard at a date to be arranged. Pc Broadhurst, 34, was shot at point blank range during a routine check on a stolen vehicle in Leeds. | |
Pc Ian Broadhurst was shot dead on Boxing Day 2003 | Pc Ian Broadhurst was shot dead on Boxing Day 2003 |
Bieber was also convicted of the attempted murders of Pc Broadhurst's colleagues, Pcs Neil Roper, 45 and James Banks, 27. | |
At the time of his sentencing Bieber was told he could not be released early and must spend the rest of his life in prison. | |
He became one of only 25 people at the time to have been given "whole" life sentences in England and Wales. | |
Bieber had claimed a friend, a fellow US national from Florida, was the gunman. | Bieber had claimed a friend, a fellow US national from Florida, was the gunman. |
But the former marine, who had trained with handguns and assault rifles for a year before being discharged from the US forces, refused to name the man in court. |