Daughter’s fury as killer bids for legal aid appeal

A killer who stabbed and throttled his elderly neighbour for £30 has launched a taxpayer-funded appeal bid against his murder sentence.

Evil Christian Darko, 41, is hoping appeal court judges cut his jail time sparking fury from the daughter of his victim.

He knifed and strangled loving grandmother Rose Doughty the day after her 72nd birthday before calmly changing his clothes and spending the stolen money on lottery tickets and cigarettes.

Jobless Darko was jailed for minimum of 27 years after being found guilty of murder.

Now, less than two months after he was caged, the Ministry of Justice has revealed Darko has lodged an appeal because he believes his sentence is “too harsh”.

A spokesman revealed Darko would be eligible for legal aid for an appeal if certain requirements are met, like a means test.

But Mrs Doughty’s devastated daughter Jacqueline Brown, 44, said: “How dare he. He murdered my mum and should not be allowed to appeal.

“Hopefully, he will be put in front of a judge who will see that he has shown no remorse and add even more years on to his jail term.”

A spokesman for the Judiciary confirmed last week that Darko had applied for permission to appeal. Mrs Doughty, who has 11 grandchildren, had always been kind to Darko and had given him money in the past.

The night before her brutal murder, the pensioner gave him teabags, milk, sugar and a flask of hot water because he told her his electricity had been cut off.

But callous Darko, of Middlesbrough, repaid Mrs Doughty’s kindness by savagely murdering her on November 23 last year.

Last night Mrs Brown revealed even more horrific details of his sickening crime which were never heard in court.

She said after the killing Darko had returned to the flat where he lived below his victim to fetch his phone charger. He then returned to Mrs Doughty’s flat to plug in and charge his phone while she lay dying on the floor.

Within an hour, he had spent £4 on lottery tickets, £6 on cigarettes and £20 on electricity top-ups using the stolen cash, Teesside Crown Court heard at his trial in May.

Later that afternoon, Mrs Doughty’s granddaughter Emma MacDonald, 24, discovered her grandmother’s lifeless body in the flat and called her mother.

Mrs Brown said: “She rang me and said ‘there’s something wrong with Nana. There’s nothing we can do for her. She’s gone.’

The family’s heartache was compounded when they found out it would be two months before they could hold a funeral for Mrs Doughty. Two post-mortem examinations had to be carried out before her body could be released.

Last night, a Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “If the application for funding was successful, legal aid would be administered by the Court of Appeal and claimed back at a later date through the Legal Aid Agency.”