KEY POINTS:
Double murderer Scott Watson has lost his bid to overturn a conviction for assaulting a fellow prisoner.
Watson was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years for the 1998 murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope in the Marlborough Sounds.
He was found guilty by a magistrate of assaulting another inmate at Christchurch's Paparua Prison in February last year.
The High Court this week rejected his appeal against the conviction.
Olivia, 17, and Ben, 21, went missing on January 1, 1998 after attending New Year's Eve festivities at Furneaux Lodge in the Marlborough Sounds. Their bodies have never been found.
In September 1999, 15 months after his arrest, Watson was found guilty of their murders.
His bid to overturn the convictions was unsuccessful in the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council.
- NZPA
