A MAN who was jailed for an attempted sex attack on a teenager will remain behind bars indefinitely after the Appeal Court rejected a challenge to his conviction.

Robert Whitehouse, 45, was jailed indefinitely at Oxford Crown Court in September 2007 after he was convicted of battery, with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Whitehouse was accused of attacking the 15-year-old as she walked along Back Lane, Marston, in Oxford, on the evening of July 18, 2006.

He dragged her to the ground and tried to pull her skirt up, but she broke free and managed to get away.

The girl picked out Whitehouse at an identification parade in October 2006.

Whitehouse, of Ray Road, Bicester, had denied the charge at his trial.

His appeal was rejected by three judges, sitting in London, on Friday.

Mr Justice Hedley said: “In this particular case, there is no serious prospect that this conviction, at the end of the day, could be seen to be unsafe.”

Whitehouse’s barrister argued that the conviction was “unsafe” because of problems over the way DNA evidence was dealt with at the trial.

The approach to the obtaining of the evidence was so flawed that Whitehouse’s conviction should be quashed, the court was told.

But Mr Justice Hedley said: “Nothing, when looked at in the round, leads us to the view that this verdict is likely to be rendered unsafe by reason of any scientific evidence that can sensibly be developed before the court.”