KENT firefighter Garry Mann, convicted of football violence in Portugal, has pledged to clear his name.

Mann, from Faversham, was given a two-year prison sentence by a judge on the Algarve but was released in this country on a legal technicality.

At the weekend he appeared before magistrates at Uxbridge in Middlesex for the start of proceedings to ban him from soccer matches. He was ordered to surrender his passport and is due to reappear on Wednesday, July 28.

Mann has been suspended from the Kent Fire and Rescue Service pending an inquiry. The Home Secretary David Blunkett has vowed to "nail him".

But Mann has now announced plans for an appeal against his conviction. He claims he was beaten up by the police in Portugal.

KM-fm's Ed Cook has this full report...