A killer's bid for an appeal against his conviction for murdering his ex-partner has been thrown out by judges.

Peter Hutchings, 62, strangled Sally Jessop with her scarf at the home they had shared in Harcourt Drive, Canterbury, on December 31, 2005.

He was sentenced to 14 years in prison for murdering 48-year-old Miss Jessop, a teacher at Joy Lane Junior School in Whitstable.

Three judges sitting at London’s Court of Appeal took 10 minutes to reject his application for leave to appeal against the murder conviction.

Hutchings was not at the court and his appeal consisted of two pages of A4 paper.

He argued his conviction should have been downgraded to manslaughter.

Miss Jessop’s brother, Michael, was the only member of the public to attend the hearing.

He said: “It was all rather pitiable – he didn’t even have any legal representation.

“The feeling from the family is one of relief and a sense that the judicial process has been allowed to take its course which has resulted in the judges saying that he had no grounds on which he could appeal.”

Hutchings tried to claim that his state of mind had been disturbed at the time of the killing and that he should have been offered diminished responsibility as a defence to murder.

Hutchings was convicted of murder at Maidstone Crown Court in December, 2006.