ROBBER Brendon Nangle today said he was dismayed when his appeal against conviction was overturned at London's Criminal Appeal Court.

Nangle, 41, from Pinehurst, was convicted of robbery at Swindon Crown Court in 1998 and was jailed for 12 years. Accomplice Sean Curtis-Cody admitted his involvement in the robbery and took no part in the appeal.

Three judges dismissed the grounds of appeal put forward on Nangle's behalf during a three-day hearing this week.

Speaking from Maidstone Prison, Nangle said: "I'm speechless, but I am not finished yet."

A further appeal against the length of the sentence has been adjourned to a later date.

The former plasterer, who fled the UK to Canada after the robbery at South Marston Post Office in January 1989, claims his subsequent arrest was unlawful and that challenge to his conviction has been adjourned until more evidence can be obtained from the Canadian authorities.

"The British authorities were looking to extradite me from Canada to England," said Nangle.

"The Canadian authorities told me that if I did not return to the UK I would not be arrested. But I was deported to Dublin and en route via Glasgow I was arrested by Swindon police. My legal team is saying that what the police did was illegal."