A LOWER Earley man has had his appeal against his conviction for indecent assault thrown out in less than ten minutes.

Malcolm Thompson, formerly of Brompton Close, Lower Earley, was convicted of six counts of sexual assault on a child under 13 in June 2016.

The 72-year-old was convicted of two counts of indecent assault against a girl from 1979 to 1981 and four counts of indecent assault against a different girl from 1994 to 1999.

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He launched an appeal against his conviction after coming forward with new evidence surrounding the assault of the second girl.

More than five years after his conviction, his appeal was heard.

The Court of Appeal heard how Thompson presented an unsigned letter dating from January 2018 from an unknown source that claimed he did not commit the acts he was convicted of.

Instead, the letter suggests another person committed the lewd acts instead of Thompson.

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The judge presiding over the hearing waved away the appeal, however.

She said: “We are quite sure that the application is totally without merit.”

After reading the facts of the case, the judge threw out the application in a hearing that lasted less than ten minutes.

Thompson, who was handed an eight-year prison sentence back in 2016, was refused an overturning of his conviction.

The appeal was heard on Tuesday, January 18.