The grieving father of teenager Aimee Wellock has condemned a bid by her killers to overturn their convictions.

The three teenage girls found guilty of killing 15-year-old dancer Aimee are to appeal the decision on a point of law.

Lawyers representing single mum Claire Carey, 18, and two girls aged 17 and 15, will argue that the act of affray was not responsible for Aimee's death because the teenagers could not have foreseen it would have killed her. Carey's solicitor claimed her conviction was an "injustice" and he was confident of winning the appeal

But Aimee's father accused his daughter's attackers of trying to excuse what they had done through a technicality.

Alan Wellock declared: "How dare these people turn round and try to dilute what they have done. It was an unprovoked attack and she died as a result of it. We have had people contacting us who we have never met and they are appalled at what happened."

He added: "We will be following the appeal personally and we will do whatever possible to make sure that it's kept in the forefront of people's thoughts."

A jury took just three hours to convict the three girls of manslaughter and affray a week ago after a ten-day trial. They acquitted a 15-year-old boy.

The judge, Mr Justice Field, adjourned sentencing but warned he was considering sending them to custody.

Aimee collapsed and died after running away from the girl gang who had assaulted her and two girl friends as they strolled in the Chellow Dene beauty spot in June this year.

The Court heard how Aimee, a dancer at the Spotlight club, was suffering from a heart condition which was not known about by her family or doctors.

The defence claimed that Aimee, who lived with parents Alan and Jackie and 19 year-old brother James in Canford Drive, Chellow Dene, could have suffered her fatal collapse at any time.

But the jury agreed with the prosecution that the stress of the attack had caused her death.

Today, Carey's solicitor, Shaid Iqbal, confirmed an appeal against the convictions was being prepared on behalf of all three girls and was likely to be heard by the Court of Appeal in about two months.

He said it would be a test case based on whether a reasonable person could have foreseen Aimee's death, especially when children were involved.

"It is a unique case due to its complexities and the nature of the allegations," Mr Iqbal said. "This is the first time in English law where this has arisen. It is a difficult area and even the experts in the case did not agree.

"Our argument is that the affray is not the unlawful act that caused the manslaughter because her death was not foreseeable to the normal person on the street. Are they going to know that she suffered from that condition?

"The test to be applied in law is whether children in those exceptional circumstances would be aware of that."

Mr Iqbal said he was confident the appeal would be successful.

"This case is exceptional and, without a doubt, there has been a clear injustice."

He said barristers were drafting grounds for the point of law which would be lodged at the Court of Appeal next week, but the trial judge would be asked to certify a point of law on the matter at the sentencing hearing at Leeds in two weeks.

But Mr Wellock said: "For them to turn round and say it was coincidental or the result of Aimee running away I find utterly fantastic.

"In our opinion, and in public opinion, the affray resulted in Aimee's death, whether it be unusual or not. The expert medical witnesses said there was nothing to suggest her heart condition would have caused her death in the near future.

"Her heart had adapted itself to cope with Aimee's everyday activities and coped with instances of bullying in the past. This was a situation where there was such an enormous amount of stress and pressure - Aimee was petrified - it went way beyond what her heart normally had to deal with."