Decision on McNeill appeal next year

SYDNEY - The appeal by the New Zealand-born chef sentenced to a minimum 18-year jail term for murdering a woman on Norfolk Island has been adjourned to a hearing date yet to be set.

Lawyers for Glenn McNeill, 29, have told appeal judges in Sydney police induced an unreliable confession by overstating the forensic evidence against him for the murder of Janelle Patton.

Ms Patton's badly battered body was found at a popular picnic spot on the tiny Australian territory on Easter Sunday, 2002.

At his trial, McNeill maintained his confession had been complete rubbish, the product of his mentally disturbed state.

McNeill's appeal was adjourned part heard. No date was set.

- AAP