The father of the star of the Scots gang film Neds who stabbed a customer to death in his pub has failed to overturn his murder conviction.

John McCarron killed William Auld at the pub in Glasgow’s south side after an argument over a carry out bottle of vodka.

The 42-year-old pub manager’s son is Conor McCarron, who played the lead character in Peter Mullan’s award-winning film Neds, about youth gang culture in 1970s Glasgow.

McCarron was jailed for life with a minimum of 18 years in August 2010 after stabbing 45-year-old Mr Auld to death at The Cavendish in Nitshill after an Old Firm game.

He appealed his conviction, claiming his legal team had failed to precognosce a key witness in the trial. McCarron admitted to being involved in a "scuffle" with Mr Auld, but denies being in possession of a knife or stabbing him.

This was despite CCTV images from the pub on the night of the attack on January 3, 2010, showing McCarron placing a knife down the waistband of his trousers, while a witness told the police that the pub boss picked up a chair and threw it against a picture hanging at the bar, before saying: "I’m going away for a long time for this" after the stabbing.

This week, Lord Carloway rejected the appeal after the witness Jennifer Donlin refused to give evidence during the proceedings as the Crown refused to grant her an anonymity order.

Lord Carloway found that McCarron could not have presented the witness as “new evidence” as he was aware of her existence and she could have been "traced, precognosced and cited to give evidence at his trial."

McCarron stabbed Mr Auld 16 times during the attack, while the pub had its licence suspended for a year after the killing.

IN DETAIL

• Pub boss jailed for stabbing drinker to death after Old Firm game