A Watford man jailed after a couple were horrifically attacked during a raid on a Harvester pub faces an anxious wait to see if top judges will clear his name.

Jason James Garland, 42, of Croxley View, was locked up indefinitely for the public protection (IPP) at St Albans Crown Court on December 20, 2007.

Simon Cousins, landlord of the Harvester, Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, and his wife Nicole were repeatedly stabbed in July 2006.

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The coupled, whose children were also in the pub at the time, were woken up during a burglary.

Evidence linking another man, Steven Ruffolo, 23, of Sutton Road, Watford, to the burglary led to his arrest a week after the incident.

And, prior to his sentencing, Ruffolo, who got eight years behind bars, named Garland as his accomplice.

Garland denied any involvement and relied on alibi evidence provided by his girlfriend.

But the jury did not believe him and convicted him of burglary, aggravated burglary and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

His first appeal against the convictions was dismissed in 2008.

But he then applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the body that investigates suspected miscarriages of justice.

And the CCRC has now referred his case to London's Court of Appeal for a fresh hearing.

His lawyers claim that non-disclosure of information available to prosecutors means his trial was unfair and the jury's verdicts "unsafe".

Kay Driver, for Garland, told the court the information 'goes to the very heart of the case against Mr Garland.'

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'Was he or was he not the man with Mr Ruffolo on the night in question?'

There was a 'real possibility' that the jury may have reached a different verdict had they been fully in the picture.

And there were 'substantial grounds to believe these convictions were unsafe', added the barrister.

Duncan Penny QC, for the Crown Prosecution Service, argued Garland's convictions should be upheld.

He said the information would not have been admissible at trial as it was 'anonymous hearsay' and mere 'tittle-tattle'.

He said there was mobile phone evidence which showed Garland in contact with Ruffolo on the night of the crime.

Garland was a 'habitual aggravated burglar of public houses' in the early hours of Monday mornings, using weapons, added the QC.

Lord Justice Lloyd Jones, who was sitting with Mr Justice Hickinbottom and Mr Justice Fraser, reserved judgment on Garland's appeal until a later date.