Convicted wife killer Eddie Gilfoyle loses legal action

Mr Gilfoyle was released on parole in 2010 after serving 18 years

A man who spent 18 years in jail for the murder of his heavily pregnant wife has lost his attempt to overturn his conviction.

Eddie Gilfoyle, who is now in his 50s, was found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court in 1993 of killing his wife Paula and faking her suicide.

He has always protested his innocence and wanted the appeal court to reassess the "safety" of his conviction.

But two High Court judges dismissed his case.

'Fundamentally misguided'

Last year, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), an independent body which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, declined to refer his case back to the Court of Appeal for a further review.

Mr Gilfoyle, who was released on parole in 2010, sought a judicial review of the CCRC's decision.

He argued its reasoning was "fundamentally misguided in a number of critical respects".

His lawyer told a court in July that "fresh evidence" from Mrs Gilfoyle's diaries and papers reveal "she had previously attempted to take her own life".

Paula Gilfoyle was aged 32 when she was found hanging in the garage of the couple's home in 1992

Ben Emmerson QC asked the court to find that "no reasonable decision-maker" could have reached the decision not to refer Mr Gilfoyle's case back to the Court of Appeal.

Lady Justice Sharp and Mr Justice Sweeney ruled that the CCRC's decision was not "arguably flawed".

Mrs Gilfoyle was eight-and-a-half months pregnant when she was found hanging in the garage of the couple's home at Upton, Wirral, on 4 June 1992.