Murderer's appeal 'unarguable from the start'

A teenager who violently beat a hairdresser to death with a heavy duty barbell lost an appeal against his murder conviction today.

Three judges in the Court of Appeal in London ruled that the challenge brought by Adrian Vivian Jones was "unarguable from the start".

Jones, of Mill Terrace, Ammanford, south Wales, was aged 17 when he was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court in July 2008 to "detention at Her Majesty's pleasure" with a 12-year minimum term after he was convicted by a jury.

Hairdresser Kelly Hyde, 24, of Ammanford, was smashed to the ground in a brutal motiveless attack by Jones at a bridle path close to Mill Terrace in September 2007.

Miss Hyde had been walking her pet whippet Scrappy along the path after dropping off her car at a garage for its MOT earlier that morning.

Jones dragged her battered body down an embankment after the attack in an effort to hide what he had done, leaving the body face down in a river.

The disappearance of Kelly sparked a major missing person hunt until her body was discovered three days later.

Jones watched today's proceedings via video link.

Giving the decision of the court to reject his appeal, which centred on the admissibility at trial of some of his police interviews, Lady Justice Hallett said the case against Jones had been "overwhelming".

Emotional members of his victim's family said afterwards that they were "very happy with the outcome".