A Canterbury knifeman who murdered two victims in a petty row over the temperature of a shower has failed in a bid to clear his name.

Foster Christian, 55, of Dickens Avenue, was jailed for a minimum of 30 years at Maidstone Crown Court on October 26 2016.

He was convicted of the murders of Simon Gorecki, 49, and Natasha Sadler-Ellis, 40, at the shared house on the Poets Estate.

Christian was also found guilty of wounding Ms Sadler-Ellis’ son, Connaugh Harris, 20, with intent, and wounding a 16-year-old boy.

Today at London’s Appeal Court he attempted to overturn the convictions, which his barrister argued were “unsafe”.

The court was told he lived at the house with Mr Gorecki, who had recently started a relationship with Ms Sadler-Ellis, who lived nearby.

There had been previous incidents in the house involving Christian and Mr Gorecki, said the judge.

On March 29 2016 they got into a “verbal dispute” over the temperature of water in the property’s shower.

When the victims entered Christian’s room, he stabbed all four of them with a knife.

The wounds inflicted on Mr Gorecki and Ms Sadler-Ellis proved fatal.

The teenager was left with life-threatening injuries, while Mr Harris’s wounds were less serious.

Christian’s defence at trial was that he had acted in self-defence, but the jury disbelieved him.

His barrister, Rajiv Menon QC, today argued that his convictions were “unsafe” and should be overturned.

He claimed that jurors should have been allowed to consider a defence of “loss of control”.

And the trial judge was wrong to let jurors hear of Christian’s previous convictions, added the barrister.

But Lord Justice Simon said the judge’s ruling on loss of control was “entirely reasonable”.

And it was “quite right” that jurors were told about Christian’s convictions for wounding with intent in 1985 and 1989.

“The renewed application for permission to appeal is refused,” ruled the judge, who was sitting with Mr Justice Spencer and Judge Martin Picton.