A man jailed more than a decade ago for the horrific murder of a toddler has launched a legal challenge against his conviction.

Colin Waters was found guilty at Hove Crown Court on July 8, 1994, of beating 17-month-old Aaron Dellow to death.

The 55-year-old was jailed for life and refused permission to appeal a year later. Since then he has maintained his innocence.

He has contacted The Argus, arguing the jury reached the wrong verdict and repeatedly appealing for the newspaper to launch our own investigation.

In June, 1995, in a letter from his cell at Wormwood Scrubs prison in London he said: "I did not have a fair trial."

In another letter to The Argus in 1999, he told how hurt he felt when this paper described him as a "baby killer."

The father-of-three also wrote about how he missed his own children. He featured in a TV documentary in 1999 about his possible innocence. Now his case has been referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body which investigates possible miscarriages of justice.

Yesterday barrister Peter Thornton QC, for Waters, told three judges there were doubts about exactly when Aaron was fed on the day of his death.

At trial, it was the Crown's case that Aaron was last fed at around 6.30pm, and that meant he was killed at around 8.30pm.

On that basis, the only person who could have killed him was Waters, who was going out with Aaron's mother Alicia "Lee" Baker and had been left alone with the baby in their flat in Montpelier Road, Brighton.

The prosecution alleged Waters picked up Aaron and battered him into the floor like a hammer, leaving him with numerous injuries on his face and body. He suffered two fractures to the skull and his head was imprinted with the pattern of the carpet.

Mr Thornton argued there was "no evidence" the last feed took place at 6.30pm and said there was a strong possibility it happened much earlier.

He said, even if the last feed had taken place at 6.30pm, experts wrongly suggested it would have taken around two hours for the food in Aaron's stomach to get into the state it was. It was possible Aaron was fed at around 6.30pm and was still killed at 6.45pm to 6.50pm.

At trial, Waters blamed Ms Baker for killing her son but the jury disbelieved him.

The appeal is expected to last two days.