Killer of schoolgirl Jade Bayliss has appeal thrown out

Jade Bayliss was 13-years-old when she was killed in her Christchurch home. Photo / Supplied by NZ Police

The man found guilty of killing schoolgirl Jade Bayliss has had an appeal against his conviction thrown out.

The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by Jeremy McLaughlin, who was found guilty of killing the 13 year-old at her home in Christchurch in 2011.

The Court rejected each of McLaughlin's grounds for challenging his conviction.

McLaughlin challenged the use of expert evidence about how his DNA got under Jade's fingernails.

The appeal also challenged warnings the judge gave to the jury to assist them when considering what to make of McLaughlin's lies in a police interview, and his refusal to give the police further information.

The Court of Appeal said any mistake the trial judge made did not lead to a miscarriage of justice, because the other evidence against McLaughlin was overwhelming.

That evidence included extensive CCTV footage and eyewitness accounts of McLaughlin's movements on the day Jade was killed.

The evidence also included McLaughlin's admissions he'd been at the Bayliss property twice on the day Jade was murdered. The first time he went was to steal from the house, and the second was to set the house on fire.

The Crown suggested there was only "a very narrow window of opportunity for anyone else to have committed the murder."

McLaughlin also said the judge's summing-up of the case to the jury at the end of trial was unfair.

The Court of Appeal disagreed, saying the summing-up was fairly balanced and that it summarised McLaughlin's main defences for the jury.

In 2013, McLaughlin was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 23 years for the murder.

A jury of seven women and five men -- who weren't allowed to know McLaughlin's criminal history -- took just two hours to find him guilty.

It was later revealed he'd spent time in an Australian prison for the 1995 manslaughter of a 14 year-old.

McLaughlin was the ex-partner of Jade's mother Tina Bayliss.

After the verdict in 2013, Ms Bayliss paid tribute to her "bright, beautiful, bubbly" girl.

"On behalf of my family, I would like to say that we are all incredibly relieved that the trial is over, and that the jury has found Jeremy McLaughlin guilty for murder," she said.

- With additional reporting from Newstalk ZB