A MAN convicted of a firebombing which left four people dead is waiting to hear if he will be freed on appeal.

Alan Ray, from Newcastle, was branded an evil monster by police after he was given life for murdering pregnant Lisa Dodgson, her two young daughters, and babysitter Emma Cater.

They choked to death on smoke after Ms Dodgson's home, in Chepstow Road, Newcastle, was set alight on May 14, 1998.

The details of the killing shocked many people who witnessed Ray's trial at Newcastle Crown Court last year.

He was found guilty of setting fire to the home, knowing they were all inside, after the mother had rejected his sexual advances.

Firefighters arriving at the house discovered the mother and her two children, Amy, two, and nine-month-old Rosie, dead in their beds. Sixteen-year-old Emma died later in hospital.

But yesterday, John Milford, representing Ray, told the Court of Appeal in London that the 27-year-old's convictions were unsafe and a number of people had a motive for killing Ms Dodgson.

He also claimed Ray was convicted of the "shocking crime" because local prejudice had crept into the case.

Part of the prosecution case centred on a car Ray was alleged to have driven to and from the murder scene. But Mr Milford produced new evidence which showed it had a flat battery and no petrol at the time.

He said: "The case against Ray was weak, the evidence provided him with an alibi and it should never have gone to the jury."

Paul Battey, for the Crown, maintains Ray flew into an "uncontrollable rage" after a drink and drugs-fuelled row with 25-year-old Ms Dodgson and returned by car before pouring petrol through her letterbox and igniting it.

Describing the Crown's evidence as a "formidable case", he added that Ray had taken drastic steps to persuade a woman, Michelle Thompson, to give him an alibi.

Evidence against him included a scratched petrol can found near the scene and a witness who saw him slap Ms Dodgson before her death.

The three judges hearing the case, Lord Justice May, Mr Justice Goldring and Mr Justice Crane, reserved their judgement after a day of argument and will give their decision at a later date