A Dover lorry driver who was caged for child rape has failed in a bid to clear his name – with top judges increasing his sentence for wasting the court's time.

Martin Adams, 57, of Tower Street, was convicted of a string of sordid sex attacks against a young girl.

She told police Adams had abused her and gave harrowing evidence about how he had showed her “how to do things”.

Adams denied the assaults, branding his young victim a “liar”, but was found guilty by a Canterbury Crown Court jury in May 2014.

He was jailed for 14 years, but has since taken his case back to court in a challenge to the convictions.

But after deciding his arguments were hopeless from the start, top judges added a month to the time Adams will serve in jail.

Mrs Justice Patterson told the Court of Appeal in London that Adams had put forward a wide range of complaints about his trial.

He criticised both his own lawyers and the trial judge and claimed new evidence now backed his case that he was innocent. However, the grounds of appeal were “unarguable”, said the judge, sitting with Lord Justice Simon and Judge Martyn Zeidman QC.

“We have no doubt that the convictions are perfectly safe,” she continued. “Given the lack of merit in the grounds, we have considered that we should make a loss of time order in the period of 28 days.”

His convictions – two for rape, two for causing a child to engage in sexual activity and one of causing a child to watch a sex act –were upheld. The ruling means four weeks will be tacked on to Adams’s sentence for wasting judicial time.