THE legal team for Andrew Greenwood, convicted this week of killing law student Janet Muratroyd seven years ago, are considering an appeal against his conviction.

Solicitor Peter Roberts, of O'Donnell's Solicitors, Glover's Court, Preston, said: "We are taking advice and considering an appeal in due course."

Greenwood's defence team have until Greenwood's sentencing in three weeks to lodge his appeal.

It follows a jury's 15-and-a-half hours deliberations over four days at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday when they found Greenwood, 29, of Sephton Street, Lostock Hall, not guilty of murder but convicted him of manslaughter.

He was remanded for three weeks to enable a psychiatric report to be prepared; the judge, Mr Justice Holland, said that it was essential that he had reports before sentencing him but warned him it was highly likely to be a custodial sentence.

The jury of six women and five men convicted unemployed Greenwood by a majority decision of 10 to one.

The trial was a re-trail as an earlier jury was unable to reach a verdict last October. During the three-week trial, Paul Reid, QC, prosecuting, said Greenwood, "a lonely and desperate man," murdered Janet after she laughed at him and spurned his advances.

He had earlier left his friend in a pub feeling depressed and saying he was going to kill himself or someone.

After dragging her into bushes in the adjacent Priory Park he repeatedly punched, kicked her and stamped on her. He stripped off her clothes and dumped her body in the river.

The court heard how no one was charged after the death of the pretty 20-year-old on June 16, 1996, until three years later when he approached police and confessed.

But he later retracted his admissions and denied responsibility explaining that he had told detectives information he had "personalised" from newspaper articles and BBC's Crimewatch programme after becoming obsessed with the case.

What neither jury knew was that the murder charge against Greenwood had been discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service in December, 1996, but following a campaign by Lancashire Police, who were convinced of his guilt, he was re-arrested in October, 2000.