A MAN from South Newton who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the ruthless gangland killing of three generations of a family has lost his appeal against his conviction.

Kenneth Roy Regan, 65, of Forge Close in South Newton, was given a whole life sentence for the murder of millionaire businessman Amarjit Chohan, his wife Nancy, their two young sons Devinder and Ravinder, aged 18 months and eight weeks, and Mrs Chohan’s mother, Charanjit Kaur, at the Old Bailey in April 2005.

William Horncy, 61, of Sturvale Road, Bournemouth, was also convicted of the kidnap and cold-blooded killing in a bid to take over Mr Chohan’s £5m freight business so they could use it for drug smuggling.

The 46-year-old victim, who ran import business CIBA Freight, based at Heathrow Airport, went missing on February 13, 2003. Prosecutor Richard Horwell told the jury at the time that Mr Chohan was lured by Regan to a car park near Stonehenge with the promise that a man was interested in buying his business.

He was then held captive at Regan’s South Newton home for several days and forced to contact solicitors to arrange for the company’s transfer and to sign papers handing the business over to Regan.

His wife Nancy, 25, and the other family members were then taken from their home in Hounslow and also murdered days later.

The bodies of the three adults were found washed up along the south coast in April, July and November that year, but the children’s remains were never recovered.

The trial lasted eight months, which was believed to be the longest in British legal history at the time, and cost £10m. The jury took 13 days to reach guilty verdicts.

The two men appealed against their conviction at London’s Appeal Court on Friday.

Counsel for Regan claimed he did not give evidence during the trial because he had received threats from Islamic group Al-Qaeda.

But Lady Justice Rafferty, sitting with Mr Holroyde and Mrs Justice Andrews, said: “Regan’s contention that he did not give evidence because he was threatened by Al-Qaeda is not an arguable ground for appealing.”

Dismissing both men’s challenges and declaring their convictions safe, she told Regan: “The evidence against you was formidable and the case was very fairly and comprehensibly summed up.”