Court of Appeal grants convicted murderer Christopher James Swan a fresh trial over torture of his flatmate Amanda Quirk AN Ipswich man jailed for life for the torture and murder of his flatmate has been granted a fresh trial after Queensland's highest court ruled the case against him "was not strong." The Court of Appeal in Brisbane has set aside Christopher James Swan's conviction for the brutal bashing murder of Amanda Quirk, 32, on March 31, 2010. A Brisbane Supreme Court jury in October found Swan guilty of killing Swan at a house in Dudleigh St, Booval, and later dumping her body in bushland at Tenterfield, in northern NSW. Swan, 40, was convicted almost solely on the evidence of a co-offender, Michelle Mondientz - a long-time drug user and prostitute. The Court of Appeal has released its 15-page decision, finding the Crown case "depended entirely" on Mondientz and that her credibility as a witness was questionable. "The case against Swan was not strong," Justice Cate Holmes says in the judgement. It depended entirely on Mondientz's version of events, and her credibility, which there were many reasons to question, was critical. Given the many causes for concern about (Mondientz's) credibility ... one must conclude that Swan has been denied a real chance of acquittal. Mondientz had testified she witnessed Swan beating Ms Quirk and later helped him dispose of the corpse. While Swan was handed a sentence of life imprisonment - the mandatory term given to any person convicted of murder in Queensland - Mondientz received a dramatically reduced sentence in return for testifying against him. In March last year Mondientz was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to assault and being an accessory to Ms Quirk's murder. At her sentencing hearing it was revealed Mondientz was sold into prostitution by her parents and became dependant on illicit drugs. Swan had also appealed on the grounds he should not have been tried at the same time as yet another co-accused - Rachel Narelle Smith, 42. Justice Holmes agreed with Swan that he should have been tried separately to Smith. Justices Peter Applegarth and David Jackson agreed. A date has yet to be set for Swan's new trial.