The man jailed for killing a mother and daughter with a hammer has lost a new bid to get his case referred back to the Court of Appeal.

Michael Stone (left), 50, was convicted of bludgeoning Lin and Megan Russell to death and attempting to murder Megan's sister Josie, now 24.

In a hearing today, his lawyers asked two High Court judges for permission to challenge a refusal of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to back a fresh appeal.

Stone, formerly of Skinner Street, Gillingham, has always maintained his innocence over the attacks in Chillenden in 1996.

His counsel Mark McDonald argued that the CCRC had failed to investigate fresh evidence that undermined a confession Stone was alleged to have made in his cell to another prisoner.

Dismissing the application, Lord Justice Hooper, sitting with Mr Justice Singh, ruled that members of the Commission had come to a decision they were entitled to reach.

Stone, received three life sentences when he was convicted in 2001 and has been told he must serve at least 25 years.

He was first convicted in 1998, but it was overturned when witness Barrie Thompson admitted making up a story about Stone confessing in prison.

The re-trial relied on evidence of a cell confession from another prisoner witness, Damien Daley, who said he had spoken to Stone through a gap between a heating pipe and their cell wall.

Stone's lawyers also called for the case to be re-opened after the conviction of Levi Bellfield this summer, who was sentenced for murdering schoolgirl Milly Dowler - the 13-year-old disappeared in Surrey in 2002 while she walked home from school.

They believe Bellfield, 43, bears a remarkable likeness to an e-fit issued at the time of the Russell killings.

Stone's sister Barbara, who lives in Chatham, has campaigned for his freedom since he was jailed as she believes her brother is innocent.

She previously said: "I feel for the Russell family and it's most unfortunate that the one thing which would make me happy would cause them stress, but my brother is not the murderer so it means the person is still out there."