A CONVICTED killer from Blaina was sacked from his job as a gardener at a Weymouth holiday park when they discovered his conviction.

Adrian Duggan, who killed his girlfriend Catherine Campbell while on holiday in India, had been working at the Seaview Holiday Park in Preston for the past four years.

His employers say they immediately sacked Duggan when his conviction was revealed.

Duggan, 46, was convicted of stabbing his girlfriend Ms Campbell to death in India in 2003.

The father-of-two, originally from Blaina,  was found guilty of killing Ms Campbell in their guesthouse bedroom in a holiday resort in Goa on Christmas Day, 2003.

He was found near a pair of bloodstained scissors near the body, and he required hospital treatment for serious injuries to his heart and lungs.

He was subsequently found guilty of murder in an Indian court in 2004 and was given a life sentence, but his conviction was reduced to unintentional murder – the Indian equivalent of manslaughter – on appeal in 2006, and his sentence was reduced to 10 years.

Duggan and his family have consistently protested his innocence over Ms Campbell’s death - claiming the couple were both victims of a late-night robbery in which they were both stabbed - and have pointed to his own injuries and holes in the prosecution case.

He was freed early from an Indian jail following the campaign by his family in 2007 and served the remainder his sentence in a British jail. Following his release, he moved to Weymouth when he landed the seasonal job at Haven, working throughout the peak summer season on the gardens of the Seaview Holiday Park.

A spokesman for Haven said: “Adrian Duggan has left our employment.

“We sacked him as soon as his conviction for the serious crime he had committed was brought to our attention.”

The firm, which owns Seaview, Weymouth Bay and Littlesea holiday parks, said it was not aware of his convictions.

The spokesman for Haven said they were unable to run background checks on Duggan as he did not work with children.

The spokesman added: “The rules and regulations do not allow us to do a full background check on people who are employed in seasonal work in sectors such as gardening.

“We can do full CRB checks on people who are working in sports, leisure and entertainment but we are not allowed to do them on people employed in sectors such as gardening.”