A man and woman from Falmouth serving life for the barbaric murder of a 63-year-old Camborne man have had their appeals against conviction thrown out by top judges.

Michelle Casterton, aged 45 of Grenville Road, and Daniel John Quinn, aged 25 of Tregullow Road, were jailed for the murder of Terry Oldham, who died after he was assaulted with a broom handle. A third offender, Aaron Mallen, 26, was also jailed after the trio were convicted at Truro Crown Court in November 2015.

But the case was back to court last month after Mallen, also of Grenville Road, came forward and claimed he alone was guilty of the killing in April 2014.

In a hearing at the Court of Appeal, Mallen insisted that he was by himself when he attacked Mr Oldham, of Dolcoath Road, Camborne, for "being a paedophile." He said he had attacked the frail victim, who the court heard had previous child sex convictions, many times before.

Lawyers for Casterton and Quinn said the new evidence fatally undermined the safety of their convictions and meant they should be quashed. But in a judgment delivered in London yesterday, appeal judge Lady Justice Hallett rejected the pair's bid for freedom.

Mallen had given previous accounts of what happened to Mr Oldham and only claimed he was the sole killer after abandoning his own appeal, she said.

"We did not find Mallen's account on paper in any way convincing," she said. "Having heard from him, we did not find his account to us credible, save for where he described the brutality of the attack on Mr Oldham and his motivation.

"Mallen has lied frequently and whenever it suited his purpose. He lied to the police and paramedics and others immediately after the discovery of Mr Oldham's body. He lied in his interviews under caution."

The judge, who heard the appeal with Mr Justice Green and Judge Deborah Taylor, said Mallen's new evidence would not be admitted.

Rejecting the appeal, she said the judge had summed up the case in a fair way to the jury before they reached their verdict.

During their trial, the crown court heard how the killers had "taken over" the house where Mr Oldham lived. They were said to have evicted him from his own bedroom and used his bank card and PIN at will. Jurors were told they repeatedly bullied him, acting "like a pack of dogs" and even urinating on him.

The final violence meted out on him bore all the hallmarks of a twisted "punishment beating," although it could not be said who dealt the fatal blows.