JAILED killer Simon Hall has been refused leave to appeal against his conviction, the East Anglian Daily Times can reveal.A single judge sitting in chambers rejected the application, which was lodged by Hall's legal team following his conviction for the murder of pensioner Joan Albert in March.

JAILED killer Simon Hall has been refused leave to appeal against his conviction, the East Anglian Daily Times can reveal.

A single judge sitting in chambers rejected the application, which was lodged by Hall's legal team following his conviction for the murder of pensioner Joan Albert in March.

But last night Hall's mother Lynne told the EADT that the family would not give up fighting against the verdict until he was a free man.

Hall, of Hill House Road, Ipswich, was sentenced to life imprisonment at London's High Court in April.

A month earlier, the former East Bergholt High School student was found guilty of murdering 79-year-old Mrs Albert at her Capel St Mary home in December 2001.

The elderly widow had suffered a number of stab wounds inflicted by a knife which was taken from the house.

Hall, who worked in both Colchester and Ipswich, was convicted on a majority verdict following a 12-day trial at Norwich Crown Court.

Speaking from the family home in Snowcroft, Capel St Mary, last night, Mrs Hall described the appeal's refusal as a "setback" - but vowed to continue fighting.

She said: "The solicitors wanted to get an appeal in straight away following the verdict, so they decided to apply on the grounds of the judge's summing up.

"The reason behind that was because there were things in the summing up that we felt perhaps misled the jury.

"That application goes before one judge and yes, he has turned that down. It is a disappointment, but we honestly didn't think that we would win that."

Mrs Hall added: "The next step is that we go into court and we verbally fight it out in front of three judges for the right to appeal.

"Simon is a bit low about it because it is a setback, but he knows the solicitors haven't taken it as a negative.

"However, any setback is a shock to us obviously, because the whole case was a shock - there just wasn't enough evidence to convict him."

Hall has always protested his innocence, claiming he was out drinking and clubbing in Ipswich on the night of the murder.

"We will not give up until Simon is free," said Mrs Hall. "He is innocent of this crime and we must fight on.

"The prison he's in is a fairly good one and he's quite healthy, but psychologically who knows what damage is being done?"

Mrs Albert's niece Glynis Dzundza declined to comment on the news last night.