A violent thug who was caged for the savage murder of a disabled pensioner who used to run a wine bar in Tarporley smirked as top judges added nearly seven years to his minimum jail term.

Jordan Davidson, 26, of Wrexham, brutally murdered former Tarporley businessman 67-year-old Nicholas Churton in his flat, attacking him with a hammer and machete.

Mr Churton, a retired former wine bar owner, was found dead in his one-bed Crescent Close, Wrexham, flat in March last year.

Davidson, who had embarked a spree of violent crime around north Wales, was jailed for life in November, with at least 23 years and four months to serve.

The drug user had pleaded guilty to a string of serious offences, including murder, GBH and two robberies, at Mold Crown Court last year.

Today (Thursday, February 15), he was back before a court - and flanked by heavily armoured prison guards - as top judges ruled his sentence "unduly lenient".

Watching via a video link from Manchester Prison, the killer smirked as Lady Justice Rafferty upped his punishment to 30 years.

Had the previous minimum term stood, the judge said Davidson would have effectively got off unpunished for the other offences.

The court heard Davidson's killing of Mr Churton was aggravated by the fact he had used two different weapons.

The victim was "extremely vulnerable" and attacked with "extreme violence" in his own home.

Davidson was on drugs at the time and subject to licence and bail.

And it came amid a "spree of serious and violent offending", including the use of significant violence and weapons.

His only mitigation was the fact he pleaded guilty, had no previous convictions for anything as serious, and a mental disorder he suffered from.

The case reached court today after a reference by solicitor general, Robert Buckland QC, on the grounds that the sentence was too soft.

Increasing the term, Lady Justice Rafferty told the Court of Appeal that the other offences would have justified a sentence of 16 years by themselves.

The minimum term which the judge imposed at the crown court was "far too low", she said.

"The overall minimum term had to be increased significantly so as to mark the total offending," she said.

"We quash the minimum term and substitute for it a term of 30 years."

Davidson will only be freed after serving his minimum term if the Parole Board is convinced he is no longer a public danger.

The now bearded murderer watched the hearing via a prison video link and appeared considerably heavier than he was when first arrested and jailed.

An Independent Police Complaints Commission investigating into the handling of Mr Churton's complaints about Davidson is ongoing.