Brett Peter Cowan has High Court hearing to see if he can appeal conviction for murder

BREAKING: Daniel Morcombe’s killer, Brett Cowan has had his final shot at freedom denied.

ONE of Australia’s most notorious killers, Brett Peter Cowan, will not be allowed to appeal his conviction for the murder and abduction of Sunshine Coast teenager Daniel Morcombe.

Daniel was abducted from a bus stop in December 2003, but his remains weren’t found until after Cowan was charged in 2011.

Cowan had hoped to appeal the conviction to the High Court of Australia — but the court ruled this morning it would not hear the case.

Last May, Cowan, 46, failed to have the conviction overturned in the Queensland Court of Appeal despite his lawyers appealing on six grounds, including claims of potentially prejudicial media coverage during the trial and police improperly obtaining a confession.

A month later, lawyers for Cowan lodged an application for special leave to appeal his conviction in the High Court.

Daniel Morcombe.

Video shows Brett Peter Cowan (on the right of the video) speaking to an undercover police officer (left on the video). During the video Cowan admits to abducting and killing Daniel Morcombe.

Special leave applications are usually heard by at least two High Court judges and determined on the spot, with Cowan’s matter listed as the first to be heard this morning.

Both of Daniel’s parents, child safety advocates Denise and Bruce, are expected to attend the Brisbane hearing.

“After 4479 days we are off to the High Court tomorrow. Let’s hope Daniel can finally rest in peace,” Denise tweeted on Thursday afternoon.

If Cowan’s application is successful, the matter will be heard by the court at a later date, but if he is rejected he will have exhausted his avenues of appeal — meaning the nightmare will finally be over for his parents.

Mr Morcombe told The Courier Mail he and his wife would visit Daniel’s grave to help brace themselves for today’s hearing.

“I imagine like we always do at the start of a new passage of legal proceedings, Denise and I will probably go and visit Daniel’s grave this afternoon … that gets the blood flowing, there is no doubt about it,” he said.

“It keeps it real that this is not an argument over a fence or something … it’s as serious as it gets.

Originally published as Brett Peter Cowan has High Court hearing to see if he can appeal conviction for murder