JAILED teenage murderer Lee Ford is set to launch an appeal against his conviction for killing a former Ipswich college student, his father Michael has revealed.

JAILED teenage murderer Lee Ford is set to launch an appeal against his conviction for killing a former Ipswich college student, his father Michael has revealed.

The 48-year-old said says solicitors have applied for an appeal on behalf of his son and the family were now awaiting a decision on whether the application could move forward.

Ford, 17, along with Jamie Briggs, 16, were found guilty of the murder of Simon Williams, 30, of Croft Street, Ipswich, in May last year following a trial at Norwich Crown Court.

During the murder trial, the court heard Mr Williams, an ex pupil at St Joseph's College, had been clubbed with a table leg and a tennis racket, causing horrific head injuries, while walking through the town. He was found slumped in a bus shelter on the corner of Landseer Road and Holbrook Road.

Last night Mr Ford, of Henniker Road, Ipswich, said an appeal had been lodged against his son's conviction.

"We are not even sure whether he will get the appeal, but it's on my mind every minute of the day. I have even had an accident in my car thinking about it. Life is just upside down," he added.

"I think it's got worse as time has gone on. We will be devastated if the appeal is not accepted."

Self-employed Mr Ford claimed the grounds for his son's appeal centred on an allegation a witness in the case had been a police informant and on a claim the judge's summing up had been unfair.

Mr Ford said he spoke to his son every night on the phone and visited him at Hollesley Bay Prison, near Woodbridge, every fortnight.

"He tells me it's just like a bad nightmare. Both his mother and me have stuck by him and the rest of the family go and see him when they get the chance," he said.

"I had a daughter in a coma for nine years and he used to nurse her and sit and brush her hair. My boy is no angel, but he has never taken drugs or anything like that."

Mr Williams, whose family live in Brantham, was found by a passing motorist slumped beside an electricity sub-station in Landseer Road in Ipswich. He had suffered more than 20 injuries and died in Ipswich Hospital on May 10 last year.