A man jailed for killing a friend and putting his body in a suitcase before dumping it in a river has failed in a bid to have his trial ruled unfair.
Kevin Gibson, 28, was convicted in 2004 of the murder of Timothy Wallace, 24, from Galashiels, at a homeless hostel in Edinburgh.
Gibson argued he had suffered a miscarriage of justice as a result of his QC leaving the case.
However, the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh has rejected his claims.
Appeal judges were told that after the 2004 trial had been hearing evidence for 11 days defence QC William Taylor told judge Lord Dawson he could no longer represent Gibson.
His new legal team asked for the trial to be abandoned and to start again at a later date.
Future appeal
Lord Dawson - who has since died - turned down the defence demand after calling in two other judges to help make the decision in April 2004.
The Court of Criminal Appeal has now backed that move.
It also rejected a claim that Lord Dawson had misdirected the jury by telling them evidence about the disposal of the body of Mr Wallace could count against Gibson on the murder charge.
Gibson is due to return to court at a future date which is still to be fixed.
Appeal judges will then hear claims that he suffered a miscarriage of justice because information which might have aided his defence was withheld from lawyers.
