Court: Ian Anderson was 26 months out of time for submission

Castletown man Ian Davison (left) who was convicted in 2015 after murdering Neil Roberts (right) in December 2013

A Castletown man who was jailed for life after murdering his wife’s lover has lost his right to appeal to the Privy Council.

Ian Anderson, who was found guilty of murdering 60-year-old Neil Roberts on December 1, 2013, applied for permission to appeal against his conviction to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on January 9.

He believes his murder conviction should be changed to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

He alleged his advocates at his trial had been incompetent so he had not had a fair trial.

Judge of Appeal Jeremy Storey QC and Deemster Corlett said appeals to the Privy Council - the highest court of appeal - took place where ’there is a risk that a serious miscarriage of justice may have occurred’.

’In our judgment the relevant test has not been satisfied and we refuse to grant permission to appeal to the Privy Council,’ they said.

In the judgment it states the deadline for the application was nearly 26 months ago.

Anderson, who previously worked in aviation, was sentenced to at least 15 years in prison in April 2015 after beating Mr Roberts to death when discovering that he and his wife were having an affair.

At the trial he was represented by Dawn Jones and Peter Russell.

In September that year, he was represented by Alan Gough and Chiva Arthurs when he submitted an appeal against both his conviction and sentence. The appeal was dismissed.

In the court judgement it states that ’significant criticisms’ were made by Mr Gough of the conduct of the Anderson’s defence, but Judge of Appeal Storey and Deemster Corlett said it ’could not be the subject of proper criticism’.

A claim of ’inequality of arms’ on Anderson’s side was also dismissed.

The judges noted that he was represented by a Manx advocate of over 30 years’ experience and junior counsel.