Gangsters lose New Year machine gun murder appeal

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) Four men jailed for life for machine-gunning two teenage girls outside a New Year party lost an appeal against their murder conviction today.

Friends Charlene Ellis, 18, and Letisha Shakespeare, 17, were each hit four times from a slow-moving car as they stood outside the party in Birmingham in 2003, victims of a botched revenge attack.

Their murder by the four men, all in their 20s, set off a wave of revulsion against gun crime and prompted the government to introduce measures against violent offences.

Michael Gregory, Nathan Martin and Marcus Ellis -- a half brother of one of the victims -- had all been sentenced last year to a minimum of 35 years each in prison.

The fourth man, Rodrigo Simms, was told he would serve at least 27 years.

The convicted men, members of a gang called the Burger Bar Boys, were also found guilty of attempting to murder Charlene Ellis's twin sister Sophia and their friend Cheryl Shaw.

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