Cannock Chase killer Raymond Morris will die in prison

Cannock Chase child killer Raymond Morris will die behind bars after losing a fight to clear his name, a court ruled today.

Mr Justice Simon, sitting at London's Royal Courts of Justice, rejected the murderer's attempt at an appeal.

Morris, aged 81 and a serving prisoner of HMP Wymott in Preston, has been in jail for 42 years for the murder of seven-year-old Walsall schoolgirl Christine Darby in 1967.

The former engineer from Green Lane, Walsall, is also the prime suspect in the killings of schoolgirls Margaret Reynolds of Aston and Diane Tift from Bloxwich.

The bodies of all three girls were found on Cannock Chase in crimes that shocked the nation.

His bid for an appeal was rejected by the Criminal Cases Review Commission back in June and his legal team launched a judicial review of that decision.

Today's hearing was the result of the judicial review — and his claim was dismissed by the judge.

In the initial judicial review hearing back in December, Mr John McGuinness QC, prosecuting, said Morris's case was "bound to fail".

Morris, a divorced father-of-two, has maintained his innocence over the decades.

The killer was fighting to get his case back to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that there was evidence of alleged police misconduct in respect of his 1969 murder conviction.

Former Det Ch Supt Pat Molloy, one of three leading officers on the case, always maintained throughout the years that he had no doubt Morris was guilty.

He described him as "cold, cruel, lustful and just plain wicked". The cases of five-year-old Diane and six-year-old Margaret remain on file to this day.