A COUNCILLOR convicted of assaulting his wife during a drink-fuelled argument will next week bid to clear his name.

Trevor Rogan will have an appeal considered by a judge and two magistrates sitting at Teesside Crown Court on Friday, September 14.

The Hartlepool borough councillor was given a 12-month community order and told to do 100 hours unpaid community work in June.

He was also ordered to pay his Ukrainian-born wife, Irina, 33, compensation of £150 for her injuries and £700 prosecution costs.

Rogan, 53, of John Howe Gardens, Hartlepool, was found guilty of common assault by beating, following a two-day trial.

Hartlepool Magistrates' Court heard that he had grabbed his wife by the throat, hit her, twisted her arm and pulled her hair during the attack.

But after sentencing, Rogan maintained his innocence and said he was determined to press ahead with an appeal.

He said: "I am innocent of the alleged offence and I will be putting an appeal before a crown court judge. In my heart, my mind and my soul, I am innocent."

He also vowed to continue as an independent borough councillor, after being thrown out of the Labour group after his conviction in May.

Magistrates were told that Rogan smeared his wife's face with curry during the boozed-up attack in the early hours of October 22 last year.

He claimed he had restrained his wife after she began attacking him, but justices said they found Mrs Rogan a credible witness and that Rogan used excessive force.

The couple met over the internet in 2003, and married in Ukraine after a six-month romance and lived in Hartlepool. A year later, their daughter was born.

Under questioning during the trial, Mrs Rogan broke down in tears when she relived the attack.

She said Rogan left the family home at 10pm on October 21 to visit his children from a previous relationship.

He returned at 2am after socialising in the town with fellow councillors, and began eating a takeaway in the kitchen.

Mrs Rogan said: "I asked him where he had been and he did not answer. He just sneered at me, so I threw the food in his face. He was very drunk. I know I was wrong in doing that, but at that particular time, I just could not control myself."

Mrs Rogan said her husband threw the curry back in her face, and began to assault her.