A BID by a former North-East student - dubbed the ''limbs-in-the-loch'' killer - to appeal against his conviction at the Supreme Court has been refused.

William Beggs was convicted in 2001 of murdering 18-year-old Barry Wallace in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.

The victim's limbs and torso were recovered from Loch Lomond while his head was found washed up nearly 60 miles away on a beach near Troon.

Beggs, who had been a student at Teesside Polytechnic, Middlesbrough, was described as a predatory homosexual and was jailed for life and ordered to spend at least 20 years behind bars.

A full appeal against his conviction got under way last September, in which he claimed that the trial which saw him convicted of the December 1999 murder was unfair and that he was a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

He claimed he was denied a fair hearing because of ''prejudicial'' publicity before and during the high-profile case.

But Appeal Court judges in Edinburgh rejected his appeal in March this year following a legal fight spanning nine years.

He then sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court and put forward four grounds of appeal to back up his case.

In a decision issued in May by Lord Eassie, Lady Paton and Lord Bannatyne, the judges ruled: ''We have come to the conclusion that this application for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court should be refused.''

But Beggs, 47, made a direct application himself to the Supreme Court for special leave to appeal.

A statement from the Crown Office said: ''The Supreme Court has refused an application by William Beggs for special leave to appeal against his conviction for the murder of Barry Wallace. This brings his appeal against conviction to an end.

''In October 2001, Beggs was sentenced to life imprisonment, having been found guilty by a jury at a trial at Edinburgh High Court of murdering 18-year-old Mr Wallace. He was ordered to serve at least 20 years in custody as the punishment part of this sentence.''

Supermarket worker Mr Wallace vanished on December 5, 1999, after a Christmas night-out with colleagues in his home town of Kilmarnock. He was last seen in the town centre.

A jury found Beggs took the teenager to his flat and subjected him to a serious sexual assault. He then murdered him and cut up his body.

The killer dumped the limbs and torso in Loch Lomond and the head in the sea off the Ayrshire coast.

Shortly after the crime, Beggs, originally from Northern Ireland, fled to the Netherlands.

After lengthy extradition proceedings, he was ordered in January 2001 to be returned to Scotland to face trial.

He was jailed for life after being found guilty of murder at the High Court in Edinburgh in October 2001.

beggs had previously been jailed for life for the murder of barman Barry Oldham, after he allegedly picked him up in Newcastle gay club Rockshots - but he was freed to kill again after 18 months when that conviction was overturned.