Gary Mills and Anthony Poole claim their convictions are unsafe

Gary Mills, now 43, and Tony Poole, now 41, were jailed in 1990 for the fatal stabbing of Hensley Wiltshire during a fight at a flat in Conduit Street.

But both men deny carrying out the attack and claim their convictions are unsafe.

The court did not grant the men bail, and there was no indication of the judgement.

Parole

Lord Justice Auld, Mr Justice Keith and Mr Justice Simon did not give a date for their ruling.

They said they would deliver their judgment as quickly as they could.

Rejecting the bail bids, Lord Justice Auld said: "We have yet to reach our decision in this matter and in the circumstances we think it would be wrong to grant bail at this time.".

Mills and Poole have now served the minimum 10-year tariff set under their life sentences, but have refused the chance of being released on parole until their cases have been re-examined by the courts.

Doubts

At their trial, Mills maintained he acted in self-defence after being attacked by Wiltshire. Poole said he took no part in the fight.

An initial challenge to their convictions was rejected by the Court of Appeal in 1996 and that was followed by a defeat in the House of Lords.

But in a High Court hearing in December 2001, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf and Mr Justice Ouseley, said they believed there were doubts about the safety of the convictions.

Their case was referred back to the Court of Appeal in May last year.