THE FAMILY of a Gwent man convicted of murdering his girlfriend in India today revealed he will appeal against his conviction.

Last week Blaina man Adrian Duggan was jailed for life for the murder of Catherine Campbell in a Goa holiday resort on Christmas Day 2003.

This morning his family released a statement which said Duggan, 37, would appeal against the verdict.

It said: "He has always maintained his innocence and will continue to do so as he has not committed any crime.

"We are confident of an acquittal."

The family said there would be no justice for Ms Campbell while Duggan was wrongly convicted of a crime he did not commit.

It was released by a lawyer for the charity Fair Trials Abroad, which monitors cases where it believes there may be evidence of an unfair trial.

The lawyer, Sabine Zanker, has monitored the case and believes there are key discrepancies.

She said: "I can't say if the discrepancies show he is innocent, but they do lead to serious doubts about the police investigation."

Ms Zanker said people at the guest house were alerted when they heard screams for help coming from the room. Some reports said the couple were in the room with the door locked from the outside, while others said it was locked from the inside.

Ms Zanker said the prosecution had also failed to find any motive for the murder.

Duggan was sentenced to life last Thursday by Panaji District and Sessions judge Anuja Prabhudesai.

Under an agreement between India and the British government Duggan did not face the death penalty.

Ms Campbell was found lying dead in a pool of blood at the guest house where she and Duggan were staying in Vagator.

He was found on a bed nearby with serious injuries, near a pair of bloody scissors.

He needed hospital treatment for a punctured lung, defence wounds to the fingers and a stab wound half an inch from his heart.

Duggan claimed the couple had been attacked by a robber.

Duggan and Ms Campbell, a 43-year-old grandmother and mother of four, had been together for nearly six months and he had moved into her house in Railway Terrace, Abertillery, shortly before the three-month holiday.

A spokesman for Ms Campbell's family said: "My sympathies go out to Adrian Duggan's family, but I am glad that justice has prevailed.

"We have been the victims in this because we have lost a grandmother, mother, daughter and best friend."