A wife killer has had his appeal against his murder conviction thrown out by Scotland's most senior judge.

Alan Humphrey, 57, claimed he was a victim of a miscarriage of justice after being found guilty of murdering his partner Angela in February 2014.

The killer claimed that Lady Rae showed bias in her closing remarks to jurors at his November 2014 trial.

Humphrey, of Barmulloch, Glasgow, told the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh that the judge favoured claims made by prosecutors over defence team arguments when she summed up the evidence led during the trial.

He was allowed to bring his case to the appeal court after it was decided his claims could be heard by judges.

In a judgment issued at the court on Wednesday, Lord Carloway criticised the process that allowed Humphrey to come to the appeal court.

The lord justice general concluded that Lady Rae had acted correctly. He wrote that lawyers who acted for Humphrey had advised him that his appeal had little chance of success but Humphrey, who is illiterate, sacked his representatives and presented his own appeal.

Lord Carloway wrote : "This had been a lengthy trial in which the trial judge decided she should provide a short summary of the evidence. She did that. "

"The evidence was all in the context of the Crown case. However, the judge balanced that by outlining the salient points of criticism presented by the appellant.

"Once more the judge's approach was faultless. The only concern is how leave to appeal came to be given upon such flimsy grounds. Their diaphanous quality was clearly, and correctly perceived by counsel in the course of the appeal process.

"It is unfortunate that it was missed at the stage of the sift. The appeal is refused."

Appeal judges concluded there was no evidence to prove Humphrey was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Lord Carloway wrote: "There is no substance in the complaints about this charge being unbalanced. Quite the contrary, this was a studied charge in which the trial judge was careful to deal with each and every aspect of the case and the evidence heard at trial.

"It is an exemplar for use in a murder case of this type where there is no defence evidence and the line taken by the accused is one of putting the Crown to its proof, rather than building a positive contrary case.

"On several occasions, the judge stressed the entitlement of an accused to say nothing and that no adverse inference could be drawn from that."

Humphrey was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow after trial. During proceedings, the court heard how he attacked 49-year-old Mrs Humphrey at her home in Quarrywood Avenue, Glasgow, on February 21 2014.

The court heard the couple married in 2010 and their relationship was described as "stormy". Humphrey launched a brutal attack on his wife, during which she was punched, kicked, throttled and stamped on.

Following the murder, Humphrey boasted to two regulars in the Black Bull pub in Glasgow's Gallowgate area that he had killed his wife, the court heard.

It was claimed he told 71-year-old George Bothwell and his wife Joyce: "I think I've killed her."

After the verdict, it emerged Humphrey has previous convictions for violence, including two High Court convictions and one at Crown Court in England.

In 2000, he also stood trial at the High Court in Glasgow for the alleged murder of police janitor Michael McManus. The jury returned a not proven verdict after a four-day trial.