One of the murderers of teenager Debra Carne has been granted leave to appeal against the length of her 20-year sentence.

Emma Last, 20, admitted murdering Miss Carne and was jailed for life at Chelmsford Crown Court earlier this year.

Last, formerly of the Foyer, St Michael's Road, Braintree, has won the right to appeal against the trial judge's direction that she serve 20 years in prison before being considered for parole.

No date has yet been listed for the appeal hearing, which will be held at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

An application by Nicole Hollinshead, 20, from Halstead, against her five-year sentence for conspiracy to inflict grievous bodily harm on Miss Carne was refused by the Court of Appeal.

The decision on Hollinshead - who was cleared at the trial of murder and manslaughter - taken by a single judge on paper will be reviewed at Last's appeal hearing.

No appeal applications have been submitted by Kerry Bauer, 21, also from the Braintree Foyer, who is serving a life sentence for murder, or Steven Wood, 24, of Parker Way, Halstead, who was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter and jailed for eight years.

Debra Carne, 17, was strangled, doused in petrol and her body set on fire after being lured to isolated Dyne's Hall Road, near Castle Hedingham, on July 28, 2002.

Published Wednesday, September 8, 2004

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