End of the road for Charlotte's killer?

By khelyer

NICK Rose, the Ilfracombe man convicted of murdering teenager Charlotte Pinkney in 2004 "has nowhere else to go," after his final appeal faced another blow.

One of the policemen who investigated the murder case has urged Rose to "re-think his position," after his latest, and possibly last avenue for appeal stumbled.

Rose has always protested his innocence, despite pleas from police to admit guilt and tell them where they could find Charlotte's remains, for her family's sake.

But this week, his mum Kay was reported to have said she was "still optimistic" after the Criminal Cases Review Commission — set up to investigate possible miscarriages of justice — provisionally said there were insufficient grounds for a new appeal.

Three judges rejected his case at the Court of Appeal in 2006, saying the evidence was "formidable" and Rose is currently serving 20 years in the high category Wakefield Prison.

Mrs Rose, who posts regular updates on the Facebook group 'Justice for Nick Rose,' said: "I was a bit disappointed when the CCRC came back with their statement of reasons but when I spoke to the solicitor, they said that this happens."

But she is determined to fight her son's case.

"I have my moments but I've got to keep fighting. That's what keeps me going."

But Barnstaple-based DS Dave Atkinson said: "We haven't had official notification from the CCRC yet, they are now examining some additional submissions from his solicitors, but if this is the case, Nick has nowhere else to go.

"That's the bottom line. There are no other means of lodging an appeal and short of seeing Charlotte walk through the door, there's nothing more he can do.

"But hopefully, once he has been told officially that there is no case for an appeal, he must have a serious re-think about his position, because if he doesn't, he's going to be in there for a very long time.

"He's in the high category Wakefield Prison for 20 years, but he can make a significant difference to that time."

He said that if Rose co-operated with police, there was a possibility he could be moved to a lower category prison.

"He could re-skill and re-train for his release, because he will still be a relatively young man. And while it's a way off yet, people do come out on parole."

In a Facebook message, Rose wrote: "We got some bad news from the CCRC, which was saying that they have looked over our appeal points and provisionally said there is not enough grounds of appeal.

"This has come as a shock to me and I'm really hurting right now.

"I always knew it weren't going to be easy and we were in a fight which weren't in our favour, but I suppose I just believed that the CCRC would see the case against me stinked and many mistakes were made, to send an innocent man to prison."