Malcolm Kennedy loses murder appeal

A restaurateur has lost a five-year fight to clear his name, after being twice convicted of kicking to death a fellow prisoner in a police station cell. Malcolm Kennedy, 48, of Stoke Newington, north London, had protested his innocence from the outset and claimed he was "framed" by a police cover-up to protect an unidentified officer.

In 1991, he was jailed for life for murdering 56-year-old Irish labourer Patrick Quinn in the cell at Hammersmith police station, west London, but a retrial was ordered by the Court of Appeal. The 11-week retrial at the Old Bailey in 1994 resulted in his conviction of manslaughter on the grounds that he was so drunk that he could not form the necessary intent to murder. He was sentenced to nine years. Yesterday his appeal against the conviction was dismissed.