AN Innerleithen man found guilty of murdering a 22-year-old woman in Peebles has had his appeal against his conviction rejected.
Nicholas Rodgers had claimed he was suffering from "abnormality of mind" at the time of the killing after taking a cocktail of drink and drugs.
The 28-year-old, who was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 16 years at the High Court in Glasgow for the murder of Alexandra Stuart in August 2017, argued that the trial judge "misdirected" the jury on the issue of "diminished responsibility".
The Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary agreed that the judge had made a "material error" but ruled there was no miscarriage of justice.
The Lord Justice General Lord Carloway, sitting with Lord Menzies and Lord Turnbull, heard that Rodgers, who had a history of psychiatric problems, was found guilty in May 2018 of the murder of the Peebles postwoman after stabbing her in the chest following a night out partying.
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