Elaine Doyle killer must wait to learn if bid to overturn conviction successful
John Docherty is appealing his life sentence for killing the teenager in Greenock 28 years ago.
A killer jailed for life for the murder of a teenager will have to wait to learn whether his challenge against his conviction will succeed.
Lawyers acting for John Docherty claim that he was a victim of a miscarriage of justice when he was found guilty of murdering Elaine Doyle in her hometown of Greenock in 2014 - 28 years after the naked body of the strangling victim was found.
51 year old former soldier Docherty had denied murdering the 16-year-old during a lengthy trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
His counsel Donald Findlay QC argued at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh that the verdict was one that no reasonable jury, properly directed, could have returned and asked judges to quash the conviction.
The Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway, sitting with Lady Dorrian and Lord Bracadale, reserved their decision in the case and will give a ruling at a later date.
The appeal judges will also have to consider whether the 21-year minimum prison term imposed on Docherty, formerly of Dunoon, in Argyll, should stand.