THE teenage murderer who stabbed schoolboy Jack Frew to death is set to appeal against his conviction.

Lawyers acting for Craig Roy, who slit his 16-year-old victim's neck and stabbed him 20 times, have lodged an intention to appeal at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The 19-year-old – who was ordered to serve a minimum of 18 years behind bars for the murder – also intends to appeal against his sentence.

Roy was convicted of murdering Jack in secluded woodland close to his school in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, in May 2010.

During the trial, he claimed Jack had pestered him and tried to blackmail him for sex after they had an affair.

On the night of the murder, he sent Jack a text message asking him to meet him and claimed he took a knife to "scare" the younger boy into leaving him alone.

Jack's windpipe was cut open, his lungs were punctured and there was knife damage to his ribs.

Instead of calling an ambulance for the dying teenager, Roy phoned his boyfriend for help for himself.

Roy admitted stabbing the openly gay teenager but claimed to have no memory of it.

A jury took less than two hours to return a unanimous guilty verdict.

A clerk at the High Court yesterday confirmed a note of intention to appeal both conviction and sentence has been lodged.