TWO men convicted of the murder of an Essex University student and another man are set to lodge an appeal.

Burmese men Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were convicted of murdering student Hannah Witheridge, 23, and 24-year-old David Miller, from Jersey, in December.

Miss Witheridge, who was from Norfolk but was a student at Essex University at the time of her death, and Mr Miller were found dead on a beach on the Thai island of Koh Tao in September 2014.

Lin and Phyo, both 22, were found guilty of their murders after a controversial trial and were sentenced to death.

The Burmese murderers now have a team of seven Thai lawyers, as well as international advisors, working to exonerate them.

The appeals, which are due to be lodged this week, will be against their conviction and sentence.

Their lawyers plan to show it cannot be proved beyond reasonable doubt Lin and Phyo were responsible for the Brits' deaths.

As well as the death penalty, the Burmese pair received additional 20-year prison sentences for the rape of the Essex University student and for robbery.

The bodies of British pair were discovered on Sairee Beach on Koh Tao in the early morning of September 15, 2014.

Miss Witheridge had been raped and battered to death with a garden hoe.

Mr Miller was left to drown in the sea after being beaten unconscious.