Pearson had asked for a judicial review at London's High Court after a decision in 2006 that saw the then Home Secretary John Reid reject a Parole Board recommendation that she be moved to an open prison and prepared for release.

But Judge Michael Kay QC ruled the Home Secretary relied on prison reports stating she was still "in denial" over the murder and showed "at most limited sympathy" for Miss Newton, who was 22, and her family.

The Home Secretary said there were still "major concerns" over her history of "manipulating" prison staff to achieve her own ends.

She had earned a reputation for being "intelligent, but also manipulative and devious" and was also said to be "much given to telling lies".

A previous stint in an open jail, in 2004, had ended in failure after just three months when Pearson was accused of "intimidation and bullying" and sent back to a closed prison.

Pearson, now 52, was jailed for life in 1987 and ordered to stay behind bars for at least 12 years for the murder of Janet Newton.

One of the main exhibits was a four to five inch bladed Bowie knife recovered by police from a drain near the scene of the killing and close to the car of an old flame that Pearson persuaded to drive her quickly from the area.

She claimed throughout the trial that Mr Pearson had committed the violent murder. But a jury of seven men and five women rejected the claim at the end of her trial and convicted her of murder.