A FORMER aircraft engineer from the North-East who spent 14 years behind bars before he was cleared of murder takes his case for compensation to the Court of Appeal today.

Andrew Adams, from Newcastle, had his conviction quashed in January 2007 after it was referred to the Court of Appeal criminal division by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

But he failed in February this year when two High Court judges dismissed his challenge to a decision by the Secretary of State for Justice that he was not entitled to compensation.

Mr Justice Simon and Lord Justice Maurice Kay said at the High Court in London that his criminal appeal succeeded on the basis that the conduct of his case by his legal representatives had been inadequate and that this had deprived him of a fair trial.

But they said that it had not been shown beyond a reasonable doubt that there had been a miscarriage of justice and the evidence which was not used by his defence could not be described as new or newly-discovered fact.

Mr Adams, who was 23 when he was found guilty in 1993 of the shooting of retired science teacher Jack Royal, wants compensation of £1 million.

Lawyers representing others denied compensation will be watching the case which will hinge on whether ''miscarriage of justice'' means his conviction was quashed on the basis that he was clearly innocent or the phrase refers to a serious flaw in the trial process.