A convicted murderer, who killed a man in a row over a pirate hat, has failed in a bid to overturn his sentence.

But Carshalton thug Jordan Dixon, one of three men jailed for killing innocent IT worker Ben Gardner in Sutton town centre in 2009, did succeed in getting his sentence cut by one year - from a 14 year minimum to 13 years - after lawyers argued he was not intelligent enough to fight his case in court.

Dixon, now 20, along with Ross Collender and Daniel Ransom, attacked Mr Gardner as he walked home from a night out with his girlfriend in Throwley Way in November 2009. Collender snatched a hat Mr Gardner's girlfriend, Allanna Devine, was wearing and verbally abused her.

An argument followed and Collender punched Mr Gardner, knocking him to the ground. The trio then battered Mr Gardner to death as he lay on the floor. 

Collender and Ransom were sentenced to minimum terms of 16 years in jail while Dixon, who chose not to give evidence at the trial, was sentenced to 14 years at the Old Bailey in 2010.

Dixon launched an appeal to overturn his conviction last year. His legal team argued he only chose not to give evidence because his low IQ meant he was confused about basic legal terms but the jury drew adverse inference from his decision.

Mr Justice Treacey dismissed the argument at the Court of Appeal yesterday but chose to cut the length of his sentence by a single year.