A CONVICTED killer could die in prison after a European Court changed its stance on whole life tariffs.

Jeremy Bamber was jailed in 1986 for the murders of his parents Nevill and June Bamber, his sister Sheila Caffell and her twin sons, Daniel and Nicholas.

He has always protested his innocence, claiming Sheila, a paranoid schizophrenic, killed the family before turning the gun on herself.

Bamber, who is 54, is now the sixth longest serving prisoner in the country, after being jailed for the White House Farm murders, in Tolleshunt D’Arcy, in 1986.

He joined murderers Douglas Vinter and Peter Moore in challenging the legality of whole-life tariffs in the European Court of Human Rights in 2013. The human rights court accepted lifemeans- life sentences breached a prisoner’s human rights and amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment.

In the wake of the judgement, triple killer Arthur Hutchinson launched a challenge against his whole-life tariff.

Hutchinson was jailed in 1984 for stabbing Basil and Avril Laitner to death after breaking into their Sheffield home on the night of their daughter’s wedding, then killing one of their sons, Richard, who was 28.

In yesterday’s judgement the European judges said they consider the legal situation in the UK to be “in line with human rights laws”.

The Strasbourg-based court threw out his appeal, ruling Hutchinson’s life means life sentence was legal because the Secretary of State has the power to reviewwhole-life sentences.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling welcomed the announcement saying: “Those who commit the most heinous crimes deserve to spend the rest of their lives in prison.

“That’s what the public want and it’s right judges will continue to be able to hand down whole life orders to the very worst offenders.”

Strasbourg judges said they were “satisfied” the Justice Secretary’s power to release a whole life prisoner in exceptional circumstances was sufficient to complywith Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Bamber, who is in the high security Full Sutton prison in York, has had two appeals against his conviction rejected, but continues to call for a third appeal.

He is the only whole life tariff prisoner who has not accepted guilt.