THE man responsible for killing Shawlands shopkeeper Asad Shah has launched a bid to reduce his life sentence.

Tanveer Ahmed, 32, was jailed for at least 27 years after repeatedly stabbing Mr Shah at his convenience store in Minard Road on March 24, and now his lawyers plan to argue the jail term was unduly harsh.

A court source told The Scottish Sun said: “He has lodged a notice of intention to appeal his sentence.”

The killing, which was described by High Court judge Lady Rae as an execution, happened after 40-year-old Shah wished Christians a "very happy Easter" on Facebook.

Taxi driver Ahmed was arrested and following a court hearing in April he released a statement through his lawyer saying Mr Shah had "disrespected the message of the Prophet Muhammad".

He said the shopkeeper "claimed to be a prophet" and that "if I had not done this others would".

The court was previously told Ahmed, a Sufi Muslim, drove from Bradford to Glasgow on the day of the murder and engaged in a discussion with Mr Shah at his store before pulling out a knife and attacking the shopkeeper.

En route to Glasgow he had watched online footage of Mr Shah and made the comment "something needs to be done, it needs nipped in the bud".

Mr Shah fled violence in Pakistan to join his family in Scotland in 1998 and was granted asylum.

Ahmadis differ from the majority of Muslims in that they do not hold that Muhammad is the final Prophet.

Evidence gathered showed that Mr Shah had posted videos on Facebook and YouTube which could be seen as him claiming that he was a Prophet.

Lady Rae said the murder was a "brutal, barbaric and horrific crime resulting from intolerance."

She told the court the CCTV footage captured during the murder was "an appalling display of merciless violence".