Road rage killer Kenneth Noye granted fresh appeal bid

Road rage killer Kenneth Noye was today granted a fresh chance to appeal against his conviction for murder.

The 63-year-old was jailed for life at the Old Bailey in 2000 for stabbing 21-year-old Stephen Cameron on the M25 at Swanley in Kent in 1996.

But the Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred his conviction to the Court of Appeal because of questions over the pathologist's evidence.

He failed in a legal bid in June to have his sentence reduced.

A spokesman for the commission said: "Having carried out a thorough review of Mr Noye's case, that has included consideration of the pathology evidence at trial and new expert evidence acquired since the original decision in October 2006, the Commission has decided to refer Mr Noye's conviction to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that there is a real possibility that the court may quash the conviction as unsafe."

Noye denied murder but was sentenced to life for murdering Mr Cameron during an argument on a motorway slip road in 1996.

He used a 9-inch knife he kept in his car to stab Mr Cameron as the victim's horrified 17-year-old fiancee looked on.

The killing sparked an international hunt for Noye, who had already served 14 years in jail for his part in the 1983 Brink's Mat bullion robbery.

Noye, who was previously cleared of murdering a police officer, was finally extradited from Spain in 1998.

The commission spokesman said: "The Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred the murder conviction of Kenneth Noye to the Court of Appeal.

"The Commission's referral of Mr Noye's conviction to the Court of Appeal means that the court will hear a fresh appeal.

"The court will decide whether to uphold the conviction, whether to quash the conviction and require a retrial, or whether to quash the conviction without requiring a retrial."

His previous appeal to reduce his minimum term failed after a High Court judge sitting at Newcastle Crown Court ordered he must spend at least 16 years in jail before he can be considered for parole.

Noye's lawyer, Henry Milner, confirmed that his client would challenge the conviction on the basis of the fresh evidence.

In statement, Mr Milner said: "Very significant fresh evidence has come to light, which we allege seriously undermines the credibility of the original pathologist instructed by the Crown, regarding his findings at the post-mortem examination.

"Assuming these findings, and the prosecution pathologist's interpretation of them, have been accepted as accurate by the jury at the time of Mr Noye's original trial, they undoubtedly would have damaged my client's credibility in front of the jury, and his case that he acted in self-defence throughout."

Clare Montgomery QC and Julian Knowles will represent Noye at the appeal, he added.