TWO men jailed for life for a North-East gangland killing 37 years ago have won the right to have their case re-examined.

Michael Luvaglio and Dennis Stafford are now hoping it will be referred to the Court of Appeal where they will seek to have their convictions quashed.

The men have spent a year trying to convince the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) that their convictions for murdering colleague Angus Sibbet in 1967 were unsafe.

They have now been told that their case has been listed for review by the CCRC, the independent body set up to investigate suspected miscarriages of justice, and that there is a possibility it will be referred to the Court of Appeal within a year.

Mr Luvaglio, 66, who was released on licence after serving 12 years, said last night: "2005 will be a decisive year for me, but I look forward to it with some trepidation.

"British judges will decide whether I will remain a legally-convicted murderer for the rest of my life or be exonerated and declared an innocent man, make the police reopen the case and incarcerate the real murderer of Angus Sibbet.

"I can only hope that my faith in British justice will be restored to me in 2005 as it was before January 5, 1967."

Mr Sibbet was found shot dead in the back of his Jaguar by miners walking to work in the County Durham village of South Hetton.

Mr Luvaglio and Mr Stafford, who were found guilty of the murder the following year and jailed for life, have always maintained they had alibis and that police suppressed discrepancies in the case.

The prosecution case hinged on a period of time - between 45 minutes and an hour - for which Mr Luvaglio and Mr Stafford did not have an alibi, as well as damage to Mr Sibbet's car and the vehicle the other two were driving.

There were also 164 statements that undermined or contradicted the prosecution case, which were withheld from the defence and not heard during the trial.

Some were from miners who walked past Mr Sibbet's bullet-riddled Mark 10 Jaguar after the time police said he was killed, but who did not see the body.

Christopher Murray, of Kingsley Napley solicitors, who is representing Mr Luvaglio, has said: "I have no doubt that if this case were presented for appeal today, the conviction would not stand."

The killing, known as the One-Armed Bandit Murder, is said to have inspired the gangster film Get Carter, starring Michael Caine.

Mr Luvaglio and Mr Stafford worked for Mr Luvaglio's brother, Vince Landa, in his gaming machine empire across the North-East. Mr Sibbet, 33, was a cash collector for the company.