A man who beheaded a pensioner still has no Legal Aid to fund his murder appeal

A man who beheaded a pensioner and buried his body in a bush grave is pushing ahead with his fight against his murder conviction, but still hasn’t secured Legal Aid funding to appeal.

Noel Joseph Ingham, who was decapitated and had his body buried in a shallow bush grave. Picture: SUPPLIED

A WEST Ulverstone man who decapitated a vulnerable pensioner and threw his head from a bridge is yet to obtain Legal Aid funding to launch a legal fight against his murder conviction.

Darren Ward Gale, 54, sacked controversial Sydney lawyer Mai Truong from his appeal case in May, taking on Hobart practitioners Fabiano Cangelosi and Dinesh Loganathan instead.

On Monday, Mr Loganthan told the Supreme Court that he and Mr Cangelosi would rely on none of the previous grounds of appeal filed by Ms Truong.

Mr Loganathan was granted leave to file an entirely new notice of appeal and will argue the jury returned an “unsafe and unsatisfactory verdict” at a yet-to-be scheduled hearing.

Police investigating after Noel Joseph Ingham was reported missing.

Crown prosecutor Daryl Coates said he welcomed the new notice of appeal, but said more time was needed before a hearing date could be locked in given the case still had not been funded.

Gale is currently serving a 23-year jail sentence, with a non-parole period of 14 years, for murdering Noel Ingham in July 2016 and burying his headless body in a shallow bush grave at Dulverton.

He has confessed to beheading Mr Ingham, but claims he did so only after the 58-year-old was already dead after hitting his head on a fish tank.

Gale will return to court on July 3.