Federal Court dismisses AFP gunman's appeal

The full bench of the Federal Court has dismissed an application by convicted murderer David Eastman to have his appeal reopened.

Eastman was sentenced to life in prison for the 1989 shooting of Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester.

He applied to the Federal Court to have his appeal reopened on the grounds he was denied a fair hearing because his legal counsel did not raise his mental state during the original Federal Court appeal.

But the court has dismissed the application, saying an appeal cannot be reopened if the issue of Eastman's fitness to plead was not raised in the first instance.

This decision is likely to mean the end to Eastman's attempts to have his original conviction overturned.