The court said it was dismissing the plea due to the severity of the crime and because the case had reached its final stages.

The case is still likely to last several months.

Fuat Akkoyunlu, lawyer for Ali Umit Demir, said: "He needs to make money to help his mother," adding that his client was innocent of stabbing to death the fans on the eve of a UEFA cup semi-final game in Istanbul between Leeds and Galatasaray.

Demir faces up to 30 years in jail if convicted of the killings. Three other suspects are charged with the stabbings, and 15 others face lesser charges.

The court also ruled that it would not forward a request by defence lawyers to the constitutional court to have their clients benefit from last year's amnesty law.

Defence lawyers have argued the amnesty is unconstitutional because it only grants a sentence reduction to those who had committed crimes before April 23, 1999 and did not include scores of crimes, including murder.

Turkey's parliament has approved an amnesty law in December that freed more than half of the country's 72,000 prisoners.

But the judge said that the constitutional court is already reviewing the amnesty law and there is no need to forward a new request. He said the court will take into account any ruling of Turkey's highest court.

Sukru Alparslan, a lawyer defending the family of Mr Loftus, said he is pleased with the court's rulings. "If they had referred the amnesty request to the constitutional court, they could have had to release Ali Umit Demir," Mr Alparslan said.

The next hearing has been set for June 4.