A man who was jailed for murdering his former friend in a Norwich flat following a row over a fabricated £10 drugs debt has had his appeal against sentence dismissed.
Peter Bruton was jailed for a total of 16 years after he was found guilty of killing James Greene, 39, who was attacked at his flat in Dolphin Grove, Norwich.
Bruton, of no fixed address, had been staying at Mr Greene's flat when he attacked him on June 4 2019 following an argument which broke out after the victim made up a story to extort £10 from Bruton for drugs.
Police were called to the address just before 10pm after reports of a disturbance at the flat and they found Mr Greene unresponsive.
He was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital where he died on June 6 of multiple organ failure as a result of asphyxiation.
Bruton, who was 27 when he was jailed in November 2019, yawned as he was convicted and did not show up to court for his sentencing hearing, during which Judge Stephen Holt described it as a "thoroughly callous and cruel" murder.
Bruton had launched an appeal against his sentence which was heard at the Court of Appeal in London last week.
A spokesman at the Court of Appeal said Mrs Justice Cutts "dismissed" Bruton's appeal against sentence.
The spokesman added Bruton's appeal against conviction did not reach the full court.
Bruton had denied murder but was given a life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum term of 15 years and 191 days in prison after he was found guilty following the trial.
Following the sentencing hearing Bruton's mother Marilyn went up to Mr Greene's sister Faye and gave her an emotional embrace before saying "sorry".
In a victim impact statement read out in court during the sentencing hearing Faye described the shock and pain the family felt over the death of her brother.
She said: "We have to endure heartbreak day after day, week after week."
She added it was heartbreaking to say goodbye to her baby brother and it had left her dad broken.
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