NEW evidence described as "dynamite" has been uncovered which a man convicted of a notorious North-East murder hopes will end his 47-year legal battle to clear his name.

Lawyers acting for Michael Luvaglio - who in 1967 was found guilty of the so-called One-Armed Bandit Murder - have made a deadline day submission to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) calling for the case to be referred to the Court of Appeal.

Mr Luvaglio, 78, revealed how solicitor Christopher Murray, who acted for the convicted killer in previous appeal bids, cut short his holiday after the evidence was unearthed.

The body of gaming machine money collector Angus Sibbet was found on the back seat of his Jaguar under Pesspool Bridge, South Hetton, County Durham, on January 5, 1967.

His colleagues, Mr Luvaglio and Dennis Stafford, were convicted of his murder three months later.

Legal teams for both men submitted applications to the CCRC last year asking for the case to be passed to the Court of Appeal for a third time.

Mr Luvaglio received a letter from the CCRC advising that they were minded to reject the application earlier this year.

However, the pensioner has responded by challenging the findings and submitting the new evidence.

Mr Luvaglio said: "They've got new significant evidence which has got to be looked at - I can't say anymore than that.

"This new evidence is dynamite and it throws a completely different view on the whole case."

Although Mr Murray has retired, Mr Luvaglio said the lawyer flew back from his holiday in South Africa when he heard about the discovery.

"He had meetings with his legal team and the evidence was then passed to the Criminal Case Review Commission on November 7 - the day before the deadline when the decision not to refer the case to the Court of Appeal would have been upheld."

The evidence was found by North-East filmmaker Neil Jackson, who has spent the last three years investigating the case.

He declined to reveal details of the evidence but confirmed it was described by lawyers as "significant".

The CCRC said it could not comment on individual cases.

Mr Jackson, together with former Northern Echo photographer Ian Wright, has already uncovered several new leads in the historic case.

The investigators believe Mr Luvaglio and Mr Stafford were the victims of a miscarriage of justice.

Their findings include an account by a Darlington paint sprayer who told detectives that he met an armed man hours after the killing who confessed to the brutal murder.

The astonishing claim was ignored for more than 30 years and then dismissed because it did not fit with the police's version of events.