Killer Derek Spalding has lost a bid to have his murder conviction overturned for gunning down Shaki Crockwell in 2007.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the jury at his murder trial was properly directed by Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves and that there was an “abundance of evidence” on which they could find him guilty.

Spalding said at a hearing on Monday, when the appeal panel gave its reasons, that he would now apply to have the matter heard by the Privy Council in London, the highest court of appeal for Bermuda.

In an unusual turn of events, the 38-year-old, who is serving a life sentence for Mr Crockwell’s murder, told the panel of three judges that he did not want them to reduce the minimum term he must serve in jail from 38 to 25 years.

Panel president Edward Zacca explained to him that the 38-year mandatory jail term he was ordered to serve before being eligible for parole by Mr Justice Greaves could no longer stand, following a recent Privy Council ruling.

“The Privy Council has suggested that 25 years is the maximum that the court can order before you become eligible for parole,” Mr Justice Zacca told him.

Spalding replied: “I’m not here for my sentence. I’m not appealing against my sentence. It’s conviction or nothing. I didn’t do it. I told you I didn’t do it.”

Mr Justice Zacca told him not to say any more about that, adding: “This court cannot allow the 38 years to remain. Would you like this court to vary it to 25, which is the maximum?”

Spalding, representing himself, said: “No.”

Asked if he understood what he was being offered, Spalding said he did. “I’m confident and I’m of sound mind,” he added.

He said that because he was already on parole for a previous crime when Mr Crockwell was killed in August 2007, he had to serve the remainder of that sentence, which was 12 years in prison, followed by his life sentence.

“I’ve got 50 years. You take it away and put it to 25 [and] I have still got 37.”

Appeal judge Sir Austin Ward said Spalding’s point appeared to be that reducing his minimum 38-year term to 25 years was pointless because he would still have to serve 37 years.

“When you consider how long one has to live, in any event whether 37 or 50, the result is the same, so there is no point tinkering with it.”

Rory Field, the director of public prosecutions, said there might be “some logic” from Spalding’s perspective, but it didn’t change the fact that his minimum term had to be altered in law.

Mr Justice Zacca said: “The matter will return to Supreme Court for the trial judge to consider how long the appellant should serve before being eligible for parole.”

Spalding asked: “Do I have to be there?”

The panel president said he would be informed of that at the time, prompting Spalding to reply: “I wish not to be there. I wish not to proceed. I wish not to be involved. It’s not what I’m interested in.”

Spalding was convicted by a jury in February 2012 of murdering talented footballer Mr Crockwell over a drug debt and using a firearm to commit an indictable offence.

His trial heard evidence from his own father and a former friend that he had confessed to the killing on the Railway Trail in Devonshire.

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Greaves described the crime as a “premeditated murder, carried out by a very manipulative, cold and calculated assassin in execution style”.

At his Court of Appeal hearing in June this year, Spalding’s lawyer Marc Daniels argued that the judge’s conduct of the case was unbalanced, unfair and biased and that he failed to properly direct the jury.

But the panel said though Mr Justice Greaves was “somewhat robust and somewhat impatient”, his conduct had not prejudiced the defence case and both convictions should be upheld.

The justices said the judge gave proper directions to the jury, adding: “We have found no merit in the grounds of appeal argued.”

The Privy Council ruled last month, in the cases of convicted killers Ze Selassie and Jermaine Pearman, that mandatory jail sentences greater than 25 years for premeditated murder were not allowed in Bermuda law.

As well as Spalding, the decision will affect the minimum terms to be served by other convicted killers, including David Cox, Kevin Warner, Devon Hewey and Jay Dill.

Career criminal Spalding was sentenced to 28 years in prison in 1997 after shooting a man during a daylight robbery at Lindo’s supermarket in Devonshire in June 1996.

He fired three shots when staff tried to apprehend him, one of which hit a male customer in the arm. Spalding had used the same gun to rob the offices of John W Swan on Victoria Street in April 1996.

He fired a shot then too, when confronted by a cashier. When he was sentenced for both crimes, he blamed a bad upbringing and a “doomed society” for his problems.

Monday’s hearing heard that he was no longer represented by Mr Daniels.