A SHAMED former vice cop is today battling to clear his name after lodging an appeal against his conviction for soliciting a prostitute.Metropolitan policeman Mark Daniel, of Brantham, was found guilty at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court earlier this month after police found him in a car with the prostitute on Hadleigh Road industrial estate.

A SHAMED former vice cop is today battling to clear his name after lodging an appeal against his conviction for soliciting a prostitute.

Metropolitan policeman Mark Daniel, of Brantham, was found guilty at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court earlier this month after police found him in a car with the prostitute on Hadleigh Road industrial estate.

He had denied an offence of soliciting but after being found guilty at a day-long trial he was handed a £235 fine and his job as a detective sergeant with the Met in Hackney, east London, was under threat.

Now the Brantham parish councillor has lodged an appeal with Ipswich Crown Court in a bid to get the magistrates' verdict overturned.

His case has been listed for October 16 when a preliminary hearing in the appeal case will be heard before a crown court judge.

During his trial Daniel, 34, of Grimwade Close, claimed he had no intention of having sex with prostitute Donna Drewry.

He said he had been considering moving to Ipswich and had been looking for houses on the night he was stopped with the prostitute in the silver Skoda estate car that he was driving.

Ms Drewry gave evidence that Daniel had approached her “looking for business”.

She told the court that Daniel, who is married, had asked her how much she charged for sex. He then asked if she knew anywhere discreet they could go.

She said once at Hadleigh Road industrial estate, Daniel said: “I will give you £20 and we will see what happens from there.”

Magistrates believed Ms Drewry's evidence over Daniel's and found him guilty of soliciting a prostitute.