Lawyers for convicted murderer Desmond ‘Ninjaman’ Ballentine yesterday argued before the Court of Appeal that his case “should never have been tried”, claiming that years of delay deprived him of key defence witnesses and rendered the proceedings unfair.

Attorney Robert Fletcher, who represents Ninjaman, said the more-than-eight-year delay before trial created “presumptive prejudice” because witnesses who could have assisted the defence died before they could testify.

Fletcher argued that the loss of those witnesses left Ninjaman unable to properly present his case and that the prejudice caused by the delay could not have been cured by directions given to the jury.