One of the men given a life sentence for the horrific murder of Carlisle schoolboy Jordan Watson has lost his bid to have the conviction reviewed.

Brahnn Finley, 19, was told he will have to spend at least 14 years behind bars after a jury convicted him and his pal George Thomson of murdering the 14-year-old in a Carlisle cemetery.

Finley had hoped to have the murder conviction quashed. Nineteen-year-old Thomson – said to bear

overwhelming responsibility for the vicious knife attack on Jordan – was given a minimum jail term of 27 years, while a third man, 20-year-old Daniel Johnston, convicted of manslaughter, was jailed for 10 years.

The Court of Appeal in London confirmed that Finley’s bid to win the right to appeal against his murder conviction has been rejected.

It is understood he hoped this would be downgraded to manslaughter.

But after reviewing documents submitted by Finley’s defence QC Andrew O’Byrne, Mr Justice Timothy Holroyde refused leave to appeal.

The decision effectively draws a line under any future attempts by Finley to fight his conviction because such a case – which would be considered by a panel of three High Court judges – would have to be privately funded.

The cost would run into tens of thousands of pounds. The reasons for Mr Justice Holroyde’s ruling have not been publicly given. Carlisle defence lawyer Malcolm Dodds said he had broken the news of the appeal decision to Finley during a visit to the prison where he is currently being held.

Finley, of Furze Street, off London Road, Carlisle, was found guilty of murder following a five-week trial at Carlisle Crown Court.

In January, the jury heard how Thomson, 19, an obsessive collector of knives, swords, machetes and other weapons, planned and carried out the horrific killing in the summer of last year.

He lured Jordan to Upperby Cemetery late at night, claiming the schoolboy could earn cash by helping him to sell weapons.

In reality, Thomson, of Upperby Road, Upperby, wanted Jordan dead because he was obsessed with the teenager’s 14-year-old girlfriend.

He enlisted Finley and Johnston, of Petteril Bank Road, Harraby, to help him. Passing sentence on the killers on February 8, Mr Justice Nicholas Green said he accepted that Finley had played a secondary role in the murder. He had allowed himself to be stupidly drawn into Thomson’s “wicked” plan.

It was Finley punching Jordan in the cemetery on the night of June 15 last year that kicked off Thomson’s murderous knife attack. The following day, the court heard, he told a friend that he and Dan had “done someone in”.

After the trial, Jordan’s heartbroken parents Mike and Lisa Watson, from Ridley Road, Currock, told of the family’s agony at losing Jordan. While Jordan’s killers will one day be free, said the couple, they would never see their child grow up.

“Our family home is very quiet now,” said the family’s statement. Mr Justice Green described his murder as a crime of “evil”.