Joe Storey, killer of Norwich woman Kerri McAuley, has appeal bid dismissed

The man convicted of the brutal murder of his former partner Kerri McAuley has had his appeal against his sentence dismissed.

Joe Storey, 27, was jailed for a minimum of 24 years in June after he was found guilty of murdering Ms McAuley, 32, following a 'sustained and brutal' attack in January.

Storey appeared at the Court of Appeal in London, via videolink from HMP Whitemoor, today.

Andrew Oliver, Storey's defence barrister, had tried to argue the sentence imposed by Judge Stephen Holt at Norwich Crown Court was excessive.

Mr Oliver said Judge Holt had wrongly come to the conclusion that there was an intention to murder, that there was a sadistic or sexual motive to the murder and that there was mental or physical suffering inflicted.

But the appeal, which was heard in front of Lady Justice Macur DBE, Mrs Justice Simler DBE and the Recorder of Leeds, sitting as a judge of the court of appeal criminal division, was dismissed.

In dismissing the appeal, Mrs Justice Simler DBE, said: 'This was a callous, brutal murder of a young, defenceless woman in her own home where she should've been safe.'

She said Storey's actions after the attack, in which she was beaten 'almost beyond recognition', and which included the taking of a photograph with Storey's face smeared in Ms McAuley's blood, had shown a 'callous disregard for this young woman in death'.

Mrs Justice Simler DBE said they found that the sentence passed by Judge Holt was not manifestly excessive or outside the range of sentence available to him and dismissed the appeal.

Members of Ms McAuley's family, including mother Lesley, attended the hearing and hugged as the judgement was announced.

Storey, who wore a grey T-shirt and had a ginger beard, appeared to show little emotion.

The application to appeal his sentence was granted just three months after being jailed for a minimum of 24 years after his conviction for the murder of the mother-of-two.

Storey, formerly of Murrells Court, inflicted 19 separate injuries to the head and face of Ms McAuley following a 'sustained and brutal' attack in her home at Southalls Way in Norwich, before leaving her there to die alone.

Jailing Storey in June Judge Stephen Holt described it as 'one of the worst cases of domestic violence that have come before these courts'.

The court heard Storey had been the subject of four restraining orders against previous partners, including Ms McAuley.

It also emerged that Storey, who has four previous convictions covering 11 offences, had been jailed for offences against previous partners.

MORE: 'I hope I never hear of him again' - mother of murdered Kerri McAuley after her daughter's killer loses appeal• We have vowed to help raise £10,000 in Kerri McAuley's memory to kit out a new domestic violence safe house for Norwich charity Leeway.

To donate visit the Kerri's Campaign JustGiving page or alternatively send cheques, made payable to Archant Community Media Ltd, to Sandra Mackay at Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich NR1 1RE.