The family of a man who died in a pub fight have failed in their latest legal bid to find his killer.

Kevin Lavelle, 29, above, from Bootle, near Liverpool, was fatally injured at the Cricketers Arms in 2004.

In January 2006, Ceri Noble, of Rhondda, south Wales, was acquitted of murder and, in March 2009, an inquest ended with a verdict of unlawful killing.

A civil damages claim against Mr Noble and Philip Lawless and Leslie Gibbs was dismissed last year.

Last month, the Court of Appeal in London heard a bid to have the damages case sent back for a retrial.

Yesterday Lord Justice Hooper, sitting with Lord Justice Pill and Lord Justice Munby, dismissed the appeal.