1998 wife killer loses appeal bid

Donna Marie Evans' family described John Evans as a "violent liar"

A man jailed for life 11 years ago after admitting repeatedly stabbing his wife to death when she left him, has lost his appeal against conviction.

John Evans, 65, from Kinmel Bay, Conwy, was jailed in 1998 for stabbing wife Donna Marie - 16 years his junior.

He claimed he pleaded guilty after flawed legal advice, that he was provoked, and had been suffering from amnesia.

The Court of Appeal described his challenge as "fabricated".

On hearing the verdict, Donna Marie's daughter, Becci Churchill, said: "I feel like I've been born again, this has made my year.

"It proves everything he said about her in court was rubbish, and he is a violent liar."

Evans has never been prepared to accept his simple guilt for his actions that resulted in the wilful murder of his wife Lord Justice Thomas, London's Criminal Appeal Court

Ms Churchill said she and her brother Michael could now get on with their lives, knowing Evans remained behind bars.

Despite his initial guilty plea, Evans later claimed he suffered "genuine amnesia" until a TV programme triggered memories of the night he stabbed his wife 11 times, before turning the knife on himself 30 times.

The 65-year-old said it was only then that he remembered her taunting him over his impotence and her affair with a younger man.

His provocation claims prompted an inquiry by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and he launched a three-day appeal in July.

However, delivering the court's judgement on Wednesday, Lord Justice Thomas said Evans was "a jealous and possessive man with a violent temper".

The judge, sitting with Mr Justice Flaux and Mr Justice Maddison, said Evans' "sole motivation was to find a way out" from his life sentence.

He said Evans fabricated his amnesia and recovered memories in a desperate attempt to find a ground of appeal.

The judge said: "We cannot accept that there is credible evidence that the recovered memory is genuine."

He said Evans had killed his wife in "vicious and violent circumstances", adding: "Evans has never been prepared to accept his simple guilt for his actions that resulted in the wilful murder of his wife."

He concluded: "We have examined all the material provided on the matters raised and considered all the arguments and, for the reasons we have given, we are satisfied they are without any substance."