Dixie, 37, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 34 years in February after an Old Bailey jury heard he stabbed the teenager seven times and had sex with her as she was "dead or dying".

Her near-naked body was found in a pool of blood in the driveway of her home in Croydon, south London, a few hours later in September 2005.

Solicitor Julie Cooper, of Kingston-based law firm MacLaverty Cooper Atkins, confirmed Dixie was appealing against the conviction.

Sally Anne's mother Linda attacked the move, telling the Sun that her daughter's killer was a "coward who loves putting us through pain".