A POLICE chief who resigned after he was convicted of urinating against a presidential palace wall could have his name cleared today.

But on the eve of his long-awaited appeal, former Chief Superintendent Kevin Pitt last night told The Northern Echo: "I simply don't know what to expect because anything can happen - like me being found guilty in the first place."

Mr Pitt quit Cleveland Police after security camera footage appeared to show him urinating against the palace wall in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

He was convicted by a local court after he visited the Baltic country in February 2002 on a Teesside University-sponsored trip to teach anti-corruption techniques.

An appeal against the ruling will be heard today at the supreme administrative court in Lithuania, which could clear him or uphold the original decision.

Alternatively, judges could defer a decision or call for a full hearing to examine any issues in dispute in greater detail.

Mr Pitt, 52, said: "I await the result with bated breath, but I am not anticipating anything, because I did not anticipate being found guilty originally.

"I am not stacking my hopes in any one direction because of what I have already experienced there.

"The evidence is there. It is quite clear it is not me. But we will have to wait and see what happens."

Mr Pitt, who has employed a solicitor in Lithuania, has maintained that security camera footage of the scene shows he did not urinate. He said he was framed by local police because he had accused them of stealing money from him.

A colleague, Inspector Kerry Anderson, who was with Mr Pitt at the time of the incident, admitted conduct likely to discredit the force at a Cleveland Police disciplinary hearing, but kept his job.

Mr Pitt, who lives in Billingham, Teesside, said he can be seen leaning against the wall on the video film, but said he had felt unwell and feared he was going to be sick.