A MAN who has been claiming for more than 30 years that he was jailed for a robbery he did not commit has lost his latest appeal.

Appeal judges rejected William Beck's claim that he had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Beck, 52, said the ruling was "absolutely shocking" as he left the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.

His attempt to overturn his 1982 conviction had been supported by the Glasgow Caledonian University Innocence Project, which campaigns on behalf of those who believe they have been wrongly treated by the courts.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, had asked appeal judges to look again at Beck's trial.

A jury's majority verdict convicted Beck of stealing a car from the Broomielaw in Glasgow on December 12, 1981, and taking part in a robbery at a supermarket in Livingston. Two post office workers were struck with hammers and bags containing £21,000 in cash were taken.

Beck, originally from Castlemilk, Glasgow, was jailed for six years and an appeal against conviction was thrown out in October 1982. But with the help of his supporters his complaints about the trial were given a fresh hearing in March this year.

His grounds of appeal criticised the legal directions given to jurors by trial judge Lord Dunpark, the eye witness evidence Beck claims was mistaken, the rejection of his alibi and a claim that his legal team had let him down.

All were rejected yesterday by Lord Carloway, sitting with Lords Brodie and Marnoch. Lord Carloway noted that because Lord Dunpark has since died and the shorthand notes taken at the trial were destroyed after 10 years there were difficulties.

But what Lord Dunpark had told the jury had been transcribed for the 1982 trial and appeal judges said the judge could be criticised for some of the things he said.

"Although there were misdirections in the charge these were not, in the event, material," said Lord Carloway.

He added that in dealing with the identification evidence Lord Dunpark had been, if anything, favourable to Beck. He told the jury that eye witness evidence was "notoriously difficult" and that "it was easy to make a mistake if you only get a fleeting glimpse".

The appeal judges also said Beck's lawyers had properly put his defence – an alibi claiming he was in Glasgow with his girlfriend.

Beck left court vowing to take his fight to the Supreme Court.