Murderer Mark Rodney Jones has no cash to appeal against his jail sentence

A convicted killer and rapist is pushing for a shorter stint in prison after torturing a man and dumping his body in a lake – but he can’t afford the legal fees.

Convicted murderer Mark Rodney Jones wants the public purse to fund his murder sentence appeal. Picture: Rx Muscle

A CONVICTED Tasmanian murderer who waterboarded and suffocated his victim with a plastic shopping bag will appeal against his 22-year jail sentence “on the basis that it is manifestly excessive” – despite the fact he can’t afford the legal fees.

Mark Rodney Jones, 43 – also a convicted rapist – appeared in the Supreme Court in Hobart via video link from prison today, taking initial steps in his bid for a shorter stint in jail.

The former bodybuilder is serving 22 years in jail, with a minimum term of 13 years, after murdering Launceston man Bradley Breward on New Year’s Day 2017 and dumping his body in a lake near Devonport.

Defence barrister Cameron Scott, appearing by arrangement with Jones’ lawyer Fabiano Cangelosi, confirmed the killer would appeal only against his sentence – not his murder conviction.

But he said Jones could not foot the legal costs of an appeal.

“The appellant is without means to fund his appeal,” Mr Scott said.

“Mr Cangelosi intends to apply ... that aid be provided in relation to the appeal.”

But Justice Helen Wood noted that Jones had legal representation and that the court should not be “placed in that position” of having to provide the costs of producing and printing appeal books, rather than Jones’s defence team.

She said Mr Cangelosi had a fortnight to file a “section 410 application” – which is when a court or judge orders a person be provided with help from the Legal Aid Commission if it is “in the interests of justice” and if the person doesn’t have sufficient means.

The Mercury previously reported that Jones, of West Launceston, “obsessively” tracked down his victim because he believed Mr Breward had stolen his ute.

When he found Mr Breward, he tortured him before weighing his body down in Lake Eugenana.

Jones is also a convicted rapist and was jailed for five years in the late 1990s for the rape and strangulation of a 17-year-old girl after she refused to have sex with him – throttling her so hard that her eyes and nose bled.

Jones will return to court for another directions hearing on February 4 before an appeal hearing date is set down.