Adam Swellings, 19, who was the ringleader of the gang which kicked the father-of-three to death, will appeal against both his conviction and his minimum 17-year jail term.

Fellow gang member Stephen Sorton, 17, has been granted permission to appeal against his minimum 15-year term, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

A spokeswoman for Cheshire CPS said: "We have been notified that Swellings will appeal against both conviction and sentence and Sorton will appeal against his sentence. No date has been set for the appeal hearings."

Mr Newlove, 47, a salesman with a plastics company, was killed outside his home in Station Road North, Warrington, last August after he confronted a gang about vandalism.

He was kicked "like a football" by the youths, the murder trial at Chester Crown Court heard. Mr Newlove's daughters Zoe, 18, Danielle, 16, and Amy, 13 saw the attack on their father.

It emerged after the pair, and 16-year-old Jordan Cunliffe, were found guilty in January that Swellings had been released from custody for an assault just hours before the attack on August 10.

He was freed on bail on condition he stayed away from Warrington but he remained in the town despite the court order.

Mr Newlove's widow, Helen, launched a campaign for more to be done to stop youth gangs going on violent, drink-fuelled rampages against law-abiding people.