THE brutal killer of a young Odiham chef has lost an appeal against his jail term for murder.

Andrew Morris was jailed for at least 23 years for killing 21-year-old Henry Stangroom with a spear gun and a carving knife, after he was jilted by Mr Stangroom’s sister Michelle.

Morris was convicted of murder and sentenced at the Old Bailey in May, but he took his case to the Court of Appeal in a bid to have his sentence cut and so gain an earlier chance of parole.

However, Mr Justice Stewart, sitting with Lord Justice Bean and Judge Anthony Morris QC, backing the trial judge Wendy Joseph, said Morris deserved all he got for the bloody murder.

Mr Stangroom, a former Lord Wandsworth College pupil, whose parents live in Rye Common, Odiham, was killed on October 17 last year when he was attacked in his sleep at the flat he shared with Morris in Battersea, south London. Morris shot him with a spear gun before stabbing him with a knife repeatedly.

The killer, a Cambridge University-educated actuary, had been involved in a relationship with Mr Stangroom’s sister until a few weeks earlier.

The trial heard that it was a feeling of rejection that led to him launching the brutal assault on the chef.

After the attack, Morris attempted to slash his wrists before firing the spear gun into his chin.

At the appeal hearing, Morris’ lawyers argued that the 23-year minimum jail term was too long and his planning of the attack was not “sophisticated or detailed”.

The hearing was also told Morris was not given enough credit for the mitigation in his case, having suffered from a mixed state of anxiety and depression at the time of the murder.

Mr Justice Stewart said: “The judge gave a very careful and reasoned sentence. She was in the best position to evaluate the evidence.

“She gave, in our judgement, appropriate credit for the defendant’s mental state and she didn’t set too high a figure based on the level of planning. For those reasons, the appeal is dismissed.”

In a statement released after the conclusion of the trial in May, Mr Stangroom’s family said they would never be able to come to terms with their loss. At the time of his death, Mr Stangroom had been working at the Criterion restaurant in Piccadilly, London.