A mother who murdered her toddler son with her civil partner will have an appeal heard against her conviction next month.

Rachel Trelfa and her partner Nyomi Fee were found guilty at a trial earlier this year of killing two-year-old Liam Fee.

The pair were also convicted of committing a catalogue of abuse against Liam and two other boys in their care at a house in Thornton, near Glenrothes in Fife, over a two-year period.

They have both lodged bids to appeal against their convictions and a brief hearing was held for Trelfa's case on Wednesday.

Her lawyers will address the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh on January 31.

They will argue judge Lord Burns made mistakes when addressing jurors about the law at the murder trial earlier this year.

They will claim the "errors" make the conviction of 32-year-old Trelfa, who is serving a 23 and a half year sentence, unsafe.

At an earlier hearing, Trelfa's lawyer argued Lord Burns did not properly explain the lesser charge of culpable homicide to the jury.

Fee, 28, who was given a 24-year jail term, has also lodged an intention to appeal on similar grounds.

Jurors on the seven-week murder trial heard deeply distressing evidence about the couple's treatment of Liam and the two other boys.

Liam suffered heart injuries similar to those found on road crash victims after a severe blunt force trauma to his chest and abdomen.

The pathologist who examined his lifeless body also found more than 30 external injuries on the toddler's body and fractures to the boy's upper arm and thigh.