SERIAL killer Peter Moore has won his appeal against whole-life jail terms without the possibility of review.

European judges today (Tuesday) ruled whole-life jail terms are a breach of human rights after members of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights said the sentences amount to inhuman and degrading treatment.

The court found that for a life sentence to remain compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights there had to be both a possibility of release and a possibility of review.

However, the panel of 17 judges, added: "In finding a violation in this case, however, the court did not intend to give the applicants any prospect of imminent release."

Moore, formerly of Kinmel Bay, and murderers Jeremy Bamber and Douglas Vinter, claimed condemning them to spend the rest of their lives behind bars is against their human rights.

Moore killed four men: Henry Roberts, 56; Edward Carthy, 28; Keith Randles, 49; and Anthony Davies, 40, a married father of two, who he murdered on Pensarn beach.

The former Denbigh cinema owner, and projectionist at The Palladium, Llandudno, was convicted of four counts of murder in 1996 and was handed four life sentences but in 2002 Home Secretary David Blunkett recommended he should never be freed.

Under current law, whole-life tariff prisoners will almost certainly never be released from prison as their offences are deemed to be so serious.

They can be freed only by the Justice Secretary, who can give discretion on compassionate grounds when the prisoner is terminally ill or seriously incapacitated.

Vinter's lawyer Simon Creighton, of Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, said the ruling could not be used as a "get out of jail free" excuse for life-term prisoners.

He said: "It's very important that the court have recognised that no sentence should be once and for all and there should always be some right to look at some sentences again in the future.

"They have not said that anyone must be released, what they have said is that it must be reviewed."

Moore's  victims:
Henry Roberts, a 56-year-old man who lived in Anglesey; stabbed to death in September 1995.
Edward Carthy, a 28-year-old man whom Moore met in a gay bar; stabbed to death in Clocaenog Forest in October 1995.
Keith Randles, a 49-year-old traffic manager; stabbed to death in November 1995 on the A5 in Anglesey.
Anthony Davies, 40; stabbed to death on Pensarn Beach, Abergele in December 1995 .