A MILLIONAIRE property tycoon jailed for murdering his wife and unborn child appeared in court via video link from a high-security prison yesterday (Wednesday) in an attempt to have his conviction overturned. 

Robert Ekaireb, 40, was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2013, having been found guilty of killing Lihua Cao at their flat in Mount Vernon Rise Estate, Hampstead, seven years earlier. 

The 27-year-old Chinese former waitress and lap dancer went missing just three months after marrying the businessman who was worth £65million. Her body has never been found. 

An appeal was lodged at the High Court last year and yesterday Ekaireb’s newly assembled legal team argued that the barrister appointed to represent him during the Old Bailey murder trial had been “incompetent”. 

Michael Wolkind QC, who defended Ekaireb’s not guilty plea throughout the 10-week trial, was called to give evidence to a panel of three High Court judges on Wednesday. 

Orlando Pownall QC, representing Ekaireb in his appeal bid, asked Mr Wolkind: “The level of your preparation in this case was very poor, do you accept this? As a result, the speeches you delivered, including the closing address, were incompetent.”

Mr Wolkind denied the claim and said: “My speeches were powerful and persuasive in their presentation. They were never rambling.”

Mr Pownall went on to say that Mr Wolkind had used humour “inappropriately”, had “personally attacked” the prosecuting counsel and had “alienated” members of the jury. 

Watching proceedings unfold, Ekaireb appeared on TV screens in court from HMP Belmarsh, dressed in a dark blue tracksuit. 

Asked if he stood by his decision to compare both Ekaireb’s and Ms Cao’s personal failings, Mr Wolkind said it was important the jury “had also heard about Ms Cao’s life”, adding: “That they had heard about her cheating and deceiving.” 

Mr Wolkind said: “It had been a really difficult decision as to whether Ekaireb should give evidence or not. I thought there was a very real danger that the jury would look at him and say that it all fits. That he was guilty.”

Mr Pownall said that Mr Wolkind then adopted the “completely wrong” tactic of attempting to defend Ekaireb from the position that he would not convince the jury. 

Mr Pownall said that Mr Wolkind had inappropriately used humour when addressing the jury by referring to the Carpenters’ song Leaving on  a Jet Plane when highlighting the point that Ms Cao’s brother had not flown to her and Ekaireb’s wedding, before adding that the prosecution was “flying away from the real world dramatically”. Mr Pownall told the court there was “no room for humour” in a murder trial. 

Mr Wolkind responded: “They weren’t meant to find it funny. They were meant to find it memorable.”

The court heard that Mr Wolkind’s personal website, topcriminalqc.co.uk, advertises his services as the “UK’s Top Barrister”.

Mr Pownall said: “He had not read the papers to a degree of a competent barrister leading in a murder, still less an individual billed as the UK’s top criminal barrister.” 

Barristers representing the Crown Prosecution Service said there was no “incompetence” on behalf of Mr Wolkind and that the conviction was safe and should be upheld. Brian Altman, QC for the prosecution, said “the criticism here really is about style” and was a “matter of personal taste”.

He added: “Mr Wolkind would not have been able to cross-examine witnesses if he had not prepared.”

A decision on the appeal has been reserved until a later date.