Three Court of Appeal judges have given reasons why they threw out an appeal surrounding the conviction of drug dealer Willston Ezekiel Davis.

They heard earlier this month a claim that Davis had signed a confession after it had been ?foisted? on him and a defence lawyer by Police and signed when neither that lawyer nor Davis had read the statement.

Father-of-seven Davis is currently serving 12 years for supplying $70,000 worth of crack cocaine to a nursery school teacher in June 2003.

He made an appeal against his conviction, with the main grounds for his appeal being that the trial judge Chief Justice Richard Ground had misdirected the jury on how they should approach the question of what, if any, regard to place on the disputed signed confession.

During the Supreme Court trial Mr. Justice Ground ruled the statement was admissible and it was for the jury to decide if the confession was true, or if there was reason to believe the confession had resulted from ?oppression or other improper circumstances, and if so, whether it may not be true?.

Lawyer Charles Richardson, who brought the appeal, had argued that the jury should have been told to disregard the confession ?even if they thought it true? if they also believed that Police had acted improperly in obtaining it.

Court of Appeal President Mr. Justice Edward Zacca and fellow appeal judges Sir Austin Ward and Sir Charles Mantell dismissed the appeal and said: ?It would be strange indeed for a jury to be told to ignore, avoid or circumvent the truth.

?The jury had been directed that if they found that they could not act on the confession because of the manner in which it had been obtained, and it was therefore not a genuine confession, then they should disregard it.?