Cardiff body in carpet: Pair's wait for killing appeal

Karen Price was 15 when she went missing

Two men convicted of killing a teenager whose body was found wrapped in carpet eight years after she vanished face a wait to see if they will be cleared.

Alan Charlton, 56, of Bridgwater, Somerset, and Idris Ali, 51, of Cardiff, were both jailed in 1991 over the death of 15-year-old Karen Price.

An appeal against their convictions has been heard at the Court of Appeal.

Judges said on Wednesday the court's ruling will be delivered at an unspecified later date.

Karen's body was found wrapped in a carpet on Fitzhamon Embankment in November 1989 - eight years after she went missing from her children's home.

Her body was so badly decomposed it was impossible to establish the cause of her death.

The key witness in the trial, known only as D, implicated the men in the killing.

Ali and Charlton are bidding to have their convictions overturned

Charlton was jailed for life in 1991 for murdering Karen Price while Ali was freed in 1994 after his conviction was quashed and he admitted manslaughter.

Ali claims he only confessed to manslaughter in order to get out of prison.

Lawyers for both men have argued that D's evidence can not be relied upon.

Charlton's representatives claimed police officers involved in the investigation pressurised key trial witnesses.

Some also worked on the 1988 murder of Cardiff prostitute, Lynette White, which later triggered an investigation into alleged police corruption.

Lawyers for both men claim if that was known at the time of their prosecution, the evidence from D - a girl from the same children's home as Karen - would have been excluded or viewed differently by the jury.

Karen's body was found at the back of a property during building work on Fitzhamon Embankment

But Richard Whittam QC, for the Crown, urged the court to uphold Charlton's murder conviction and Ali's admission of manslaughter.

He said there was no evidence that any of the officers involved in the Karen Price investigation had breached police standards.

Mr Whittam added that, in all the intervening years, D has never withdrawn her account of what happened to Karen - unlike the witnesses in the Lynette White case.

Lady Justice Hallett, who is hearing the case with Mr Justice Coulson and Mr Justice Nicol, said the court will now "take some time" to consider all of the issues raised in the appeal.